


(æ)donai

by KimChangRa



Series: (æ)viternity [3]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: (Ancient Gear), (Constellar), (Fluffal), (Frightfur), (Gladiator Beast), (Gusto), (Performapal), (Raidraptor), (Ritual Beast), Abyss Actor, Antique Gear, Caution: Tags In No Particular Order, Des-Toy, Duel-centric, Edge Imp, Entermate, F/M, Furnimal, Gem-Knight, Gladial Beast, Gusta - Freeform, Melodious, Pendulum Magicians, Post-Canon, Raid Raptors, Sacred, Spirit Beast, Superheavy Samurai, X-Saber, Yosenju, tellarknight
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:40:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 105,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25930729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KimChangRa/pseuds/KimChangRa
Summary: Academia has fallen, but it has not yet splintered.  As new faces and old enemies conspire in the shadows, Masumi and her friends are faced with the possibility that this peace may be nothing more than the calm before the storm …(Sequel to (æ)lohim and (æ)mæth.  Post-canon with a dash of Masumi/Yaiba.)
Relationships: Koutsu Masumi/Toudou Yaiba
Series: (æ)viternity [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/468886
Comments: 6
Kudos: 7





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: And so begins the third story in my series. Not one chapter in and I've already made the scope of it quite a bit bigger than its predecessors. Ho-o-o boy.
> 
> As ever, for purposes of faithfulness to the source material, any canon cards, archetypes, and characters in this story will be referred to in their original Japanese translation, as listed on Yugipedia. Any cards exclusive to this story will be listed at its conclusion.
> 
> Lastly, the obligatory legalese: Yu-Gi-Oh! and Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V are © 1996 and © 2014 by Kazuki Takahashi and the Konami Corporation; all original characters and content herein are mine.
> 
> Hope you all enjoy! – K

PROLOGUE

_Heartland Tower, Heartland City_

_Xyz Dimension_

The last time Byron Arclight had run this fast in his life, he'd been part of the hundred-meter dash that would have decided the class champion at his school's sports day. That had been twenty years ago—twenty years of dedication to science, technology, and innovation that had supplanted any further wish for unnecessary physical activity.

And yet, something about the inherent danger of the situation in which he'd found himself scarce minutes ago seemed to have evaporated those decades of slacking off at his computer rather than burning off calories at the gym, or in trying out the revolutionary Solid Vision that had introduced an entirely new dimension—turn of phrase completely intended—to the world's most popular pastime.

Byron knew, however, that that pastime had become a weapon of war all too well. He'd been one of the millions upon millions sealed into cards during the invasion—it had happened so fast and so quickly that there'd been no time to rediscover what might have remained of his athletic talents. Then, as suddenly as it had happened, he was back, only to find that entire months had passed without his knowledge. For him, the war had begun and ended in the blink of an eye—and in almost the same flash of light that had blinded his eyes, and forced them open forever.

So he'd been one of the first to react when the soldiers struck.

But the last time he'd run this fast in his life had still been twenty years ago.

Most of the men and women in the room with him didn't even make it to the elevators. Not that they would have helped. The last thing Byron saw before he slammed the door behind him, heart racing was more squads of those gray-clad soldiers streaming out from the lifts. He heard a feral, mechanized growling; then a woman screaming—

Quiet.

Far too quiet.

Far too quickly.

Then, Byron jumped back from the door in alarm as a glowing black sword, edges hissing with crimson energy, sliced through the inch-thick metal like it wasn't even there. He scrabbled back on all fours with a gasp—

—right into the lap of another man, smaller than he, but older, and with blond hair that stuck up from his head as if he'd been electrocuted.

"Faker!"

That wasn't Dr. Tenjō's real name, to be sure, but the founder of Heartland City had escaped detection from the invading forces of Academia so many times in the past that the Resistance made sure that nickname had stuck even after they'd finally found him. Even then, he'd done so knowing that his sacrifice would have ensured the safety of Kaito and Hart. As a father himself, Byron knew the lengths a man would go to protect his own children.

And indeed, Faker's children looked like they were the first two things on his mind. "Run!" he said hoarsely.

He sounded like he'd been doing just that for longer than someone his age ought to be. But Byron heard the squeal of metal yielding against a blade of Solid Vision as thinly projected as any laser, and knew he had no other choice.

They sprinted upstairs. "Have you warned them?" Byron asked.

"I didn't have to," panted Faker. "Kaito was practicing with Kurosaki when they saw the first explosions hit the tower. Hart's already been moved to safety, but the Resistance is already mobilizing for a defense."

He didn't sound too optimistic. "What about you?" He meant Byron's children.

Byron bowed his head. "I didn't have time to reach out to them," he said ashamedly. "They were on the thirty-sixth level. I can only hope that means they had time to get away."

He took the stairs three at a time, blinking away tears and ignoring the stitches in his chest. "Who the hell are those soldiers?" he wanted to know. "Why are they here?"

"The sentries on the gates didn't pick up a thing," Faker replied. "These soldiers didn't just stroll through the front door—they teleported right onto the seventieth level of Heartland Tower. I think that tells us exactly who they are."

His face darkened. "And very likely why they're here."

Byron knew he shared the same clearance level as Faker. He knew what the scientist was talking about on both counts. And he was inclined to agree with him.

"What do we do?"

"We have to safeguard the fragment. Everything else is secondary—including our lives." Faker had reached a door, and punched in a code as quickly as only the urgency of the situation could allow him.

Durasteel panels slid apart with a hiss, and they quickly made themselves scarce inside.

The air was frigid inside the circular chamber, and lit with a greenish light that made everything feel doubly alien. Tendrils of coolant snaked from vents in the ceiling, and clouds of vapor caressed the floor. Byron felt the air sting his lungs with every grateful breath he took, but he ignored the pain—every breath he took was a reminder that he was still alive—that they could still have some chance of success before all was lost.

He eyed the object in the center of the room—the source of the yellow-green light that bathed his face, hovering there without any visible means of support.

Faker was already working a console. "Where are we sending it?" Byron asked.

"I don't know," came the answer. "I'm programming a basic wormhole transmission. Exit coordinates have been completely randomized. We won't know where or when the fragment will be sent."

His face was set. "But neither will they."

The console beeped. "We're set!" Faker took out his Duel Disk as he stepped back from the control panel. "We'll have aperture in five minutes. The energy overload will short out every piece of instrumentation in this level—they won't be fast enough to recover any data that might betray its new location."

Byron gaped. "But—five _minutes_?!" With all the soldiers he'd seen storming the building, they'd be lucky to have five _seconds_.

Faker knew it, too—his grim nod told all. "We have to buy time for the reactor to gather the energy required," he said. "And we'll have to do it very soon. By now, those soldiers will have detected a massive neutrino discharge in this very room. When they do, they'll come for us _en masse_."

Byron took out his own Duel Disk. He could hear shouting from below. "Then we hold the line here."

Twin blades activated simultaneously. "For our children," said Faker, starting the countdown. "For our home."

Byron set his jaw. "For Sakaki Yūya."

* * *

_Approximately 5 km from Heartland Tower_

The overlook was humble—only a single tree decorated the grassy hillock. It was all to the better for anyone who wished to get a spectacular view of the entire city—including the old, shaggy-haired man who'd positioned himself under the sole spot of shade the tree afforded him.

"I see," he spoke, cradling the device to his ear. "Withdraw your troops to level sixty-five and hold position. I'll take over from here. … _Multi in unum_ , Captain."

The moment the call ended, a mechanical arm lowered the device from his silvery hair, setting it down on his lap. Another press of a button shuffled the cards inside it, ejecting five of them an instant later. The man inspected them, squinting through rheumy eyes, and betrayed his satisfied smile for only an instant.

Then he glanced once more at the tower. There was work to be done.

As he played his cards in the sequence he needed, the shadow of the tree above him wriggled at the edges, then blossomed out from under him as if it had suddenly grown tenfold in size. The old man needed only to hear the low growl of the monster responsible, and see its endless scarlet coils, before he smiled once more.

Servomotors whined as they brought the screen of the Duel Disk up to his wizened face. Endless telemetry flashed before him, and every spidery symbol told him exactly what he wanted to know.

He spoke two words, and smiled again. **"** ** _Hyper Blaze._** **"**

* * *

They held the line for all of sixteen seconds. Neither scientist heard the explosion that blew their chamber apart.

As durasteel plating crumpled like tinfoil, and sinister violet light, horribly familiar, emerged from behind the peeling panels, Byron Arclight's last thoughts before it consumed him for the second time in his life were of his three sons.

Dr. "Faker" Tenjō had one less child than his colleague, and stood slightly behind him. This meant that he had marginally more time to think of one last thing besides Kaito and Hart before the light claimed him, too.

Unfortunately, the only thought his scientist's brain could conjure was of his final contribution to Heartland City, and the Xyz Dimension with it: a wormhole he now knew would arrive far too late.

* * *

_Duel Palace, the City_

_Synchro Dimension_

Of all the dizzying heights to which the City soared, all the monolithic crystal-like superstructures—designed to be self-sustaining cities within a City—that jutted upwards at angles from the sprawling metropolis, the Duel Palace topped them all. The amalgamation of luxury apartment building and Dueling stadium, each capable of holding tens of thousands of people—yet the former often attracted far less, and the latter far more—was one of the crown jewels of architecture in the entire world, and the entire Dimension by proxy.

Whatever majesty it might have possessed, however, was fully lost on Jack Atlas as he maneuvered his D-Wheel through traffic. Cars honked to no avail as the famous blue-and-white _Wheel of Fortune_ streaked past them, the monowheel's unique design and carbon-fiber/titanium chassis carrying its pilot at almost twice the highway's listed speed limit. If the City Security Forces had not been officially disbanded and reorganized some months ago, Jack might have had to Duel them to keep his pride and joy from being ignominiously carted off to the local impound. He doubted they would, though; he had good reason to be in the hurry he was.

The notion that his residence might well have been destroyed mere seconds ago was just one of them.

Something vibrated in his helmet just then. Jack saw the caller ID in a split second, spilling across his visor and obscuring his view of the plume of smoke currently belching from the top of the Duel Palace.

A quick push of a button in his helmet's integrated keypad answered the call. "Oh, thank God you're all right!" a woman's voice cried through the earpiece. "I saw the explosion just now—I thought you might have been killed!"

"I was lucky, Carly," Jack said. The bespectacled cub reporter had been assigned to interview him so many times during his time as Duel King that she hardly ever contacted him through her workplace anymore. "I'm on my way back there now. If whoever's responsible is still there, I can promise you they won't be nearly as fortunate."

He patted the Deck tucked neatly into his Duel Disk; Jack could almost hear the growl of the dragons that lived inside it, and knew that his words were not spoken as a threat—but as a promise.

His helmet buzzed again. "I have another call," he said shortly. He saw the prefix that accompanied the ID, and knew this one couldn't wait. "Send word to Shinji and Crow. Make sure they're safe with the rest of the kids."

"Got it. Stay safe out there—bye!" Jack moved to answer the second call before Carly had even hung up. He tapped at his helmet again, switching to a different frequency.

"Don't bother, Mr. Atlas. Secure lines won't do us any good today."

Jack grimaced. Partly due to the five people on the other end of the line; partly because "Mr. Atlas" made him sound like just as much of an old fart as those five people. Maybe he wasn't a King anymore, but he still commanded respect in the City—and that meant people invariably found new ways to address him. The trouble was, being called Mister Anything made that respect feel cheap to someone like Jack Atlas.

It made him feel like he'd never earned it at all.

"Let's hear the bad news then, Gael," he said. "And I'd better still have my damage deposit—"

"This is _no time for jokes!_ " He could practically feel the protuberant, pug-like gaze of former Councilor Gray burning a hole in his skull. "A paramilitary force has infiltrated the upper echelons of the Duel Palace! Casualties are already in the dozens and rising rapidly!"

"Give me five minutes!" Jack said, slicing the _Wheel of Fortune_ past a sedan so quickly that the poor driver mounted the curb, narrowly missing a bus stop. "I'm within site of the building—I can reinforce you as soon as—"

"You do not understand." The imperious contralto of Ms. Azul pealed in his brain like a thunderstorm. "The upper echelons have been penetrated. We estimate _seconds_ before the inner sanctum is compromised. The fragment _must_ be safeguarded. That is our only cause for concern."

"Protocol one-oh-one-three-one-eight has already been initiated," grunted a male voice. "Your primary concern"—he raised his voice, perhaps anticipating Jack's sudden anger—"is to make sure all civilians within the vicinity have been evacuated. We will do our part to ensure any fallout is minimized."

Jack was incensed. "Mr. Bordeaux, I must protest! That fragment means too much to the Synchro Dimension—to me—that I will not see it simply whisked away just so that—"

But Mr. Bordeaux did not appear to have heard him. "Whenever you're ready, Mr. President," he intoned.

"There's no need to call me that," said the old man, Taki, his voice jovial but austere. "We're not the High Council anymore—we're simply the stewards of the Duel Palace. And however diminished we have made ourselves, Jack Atlas, we still have some leverage on paper. We have already made our decision as to—"

He broke off suddenly. Jack was close enough to the Duel Palace to see precisely why that might be.

Great leathery wings, their folds and pinions a bright, deep gold, had expanded from behind the spindly, smoking skyscraper. That Jack could see them at all from this distance meant they must be scores of meters in span—almost certainly more. And though he could not see the monster capable of reaching such an incredible size, he didn't need it to know that whatever it was easily equaled his dragons in sheer physical strength.

Maybe even exceeded them.

He heard someone shout, "Mr. President!" He wasn't sure which of the former Council it was.

Then he heard someone else, his voice aged and wheezing, completely unfamiliar. **"** ** _Lost Paradise—_** **"**

The thunderclap and flash of blue that followed left Jack blind and deaf for the longest split second of his life. Only the emergency autopilot—standard among all D-Wheels of the city, up to and including his own hand-built, custom-made marvel of engineering—saved him from certain fiery death against the broad trailer of an idling semi.

He barely heard the truck driver cursing at him—only to find that flood of invective rapidly dwindling to a trickle when he realized just who had nearly hit his trailer. Far more important things were on his mind.

Namely, that the topmost spire of the Duel Palace—and the secret it contained—had been shattered by a single bolt of blue lightning. Blown to shards. Decades of work—from design to construction—had been mutilated in the space of a second, reduced to nothing but a gleam in the eye of its long-dead creator.

And the more Jack saw, the more certain he was that the monster he'd seen just then had been responsible.

There was no sign of it now. Probably no sign of those soldiers the former Council had mentioned—and most likely, he thought, no sign of the Council themselves, either.

He stood there for a while, thinking, before gunning _Wheel of Fortune_ once again. His damage deposit could wait.

He had more important things on his mind now.

* * *

_Kingdom of Misgarth, Capital City_

_Fusion Dimension_

There were other countries and empires in the world, other principalities and protectorates. Most were bigger or more populous; others had superior healthcare or some other quality of life. Each of them was set apart from one another for a very specific reason—but all of them only had to look at the Crown Prince Ojin to see why his tiny little slice of the world was the foremost power in the entire Fusion Dimension.

He sniffed, looking out the gigantic window at the procession unfolding on the main thoroughfare of the palace grounds. _Was_ , it appeared, was about to have an exceptionally appropriate meaning today.

Other world leaders were taller, broader in stature. Some were more bombastic in their movements, more elegant and inspirational in their speech. But behind the blue eyes of Ojin danced a single, solitary spark that none of those men and women had ever possessed in their careers on the world stage. It had been that one spark that gave Ojin the impetus to assert his place on that stage, and to set himself apart from them all thenceforth: the spark of knowledge.

Ojin knew the value of knowledge on the world stage. Knowledge gave way to innovation.

Innovation yielded supremacy.

Supremacy created fear.

Put quite simply, the Fusion Dimension feared Ojin. They feared the spark of knowledge in his eyes—just like they feared the mind that fueled that spark. The prince's endorsement of the legislation that had transformed Academia from an educational institution into a fully-fledged, internationally staffed paramilitary task force had been the catalyst for every nation to do the same. Corporate tax breaks had allowed his nation to produce the technology that made Academia's goals possible—even those ingenious programs that sealed human beings into cards to preserve their life force, and to traverse the dimensions as easily as walking over to the neighbors for tea and gossip.

Of course, there had been protests. Humans didn't like sudden change if it forced them to change with it. And perhaps Ojin _had_ moved a little bit too fast to satisfy Academia's timetables. But it wasn't as though the people had too much of a choice in the matter. There was one other thing that made the spark in his eyes such a fearful thing.

Namely, that it looked rather like the spark of one of his military's orbital satellites about to reduce any idea of resistance or protest to a smoking crater.

Supremacy created fear.

A more reckless man than Ojin would have used those satellites by now, he thought as he continued to look on the scene outside his window. Popular in the world he was not, especially after recent events—but he was not about to reduce his whole kingdom to ruin for the simple pleasure of exterminating a threat to his personal safety.

Perhaps that lack of recklessness was why he could feel the tiny creature gnawing at his stomach—the germination of the very seeds of terror he himself had sprouted the world over.

And perhaps that sense of restraint was why that creature stayed so tiny, and did not grow inside him, did not choke him with the same fear he instilled in almost everyone in the world who knew his name. _Almost_.

The double doors behind him yawned open, freshly oiled and whisper-quiet in the melancholy mood of the chamber. Footsteps echoed on the marble floor. Ojin, still looking outside, caught the sound of heels on the polished marble.

"The palace is surrounded, Your Grace," said the stately young woman behind him, every strand of auburn hair combed to perfection. "We still have some loyalists in our intelligence sector. They … estimate that seventy-five percent of our military forces have already joined the dissident movement. We have furthermore received reports that our neighboring countries are experiencing uprisings of a similar nature in their metropolitan areas."

Ojin did not speak, but bade his longtime confidante to continue. "Sixty-three percent of the capital has been placed under martial law, including the financial and administrative sectors. As yet, they have made no demands. No mass arrests have been made. No casualties have been sustained aside from sporadic encounters."

 _A bloodless coup_ , Ojin thought. "How close are they to the palace itself, Lind?" His voice was surprisingly heavy.

Lind didn't answer. That tended to happen to people when they suddenly grew a glowing sword out of their chest.

There was a flash of purple light. Ojin whirled around just in time to see Lind's body disintegrate into billions of swirling photons—right before it was sucked into the night-black blade that had pierced her breast so cleanly, not one drop of blood had been spilled.

He knew enough about Duel Disk technology to know that pierced wasn't even the right word—it was more proper to say it had been phased right through her flesh. But the quickness and brutality of the act could conjure up no other term for what had just happened to his secretary … and childhood friend.

And yet, even as Lind's final scream echoed in the hallway—even as the owner of the Duel Disk that had sealed her ejected the fresh card it had created from her essence—the creature of fear inside him remained stunted. Feeble.

All he felt was disgust at what had been done.

"That"—the crown prince summoned up his most insulting sneer—"was _uncalled for_."

The huge man before him, still inspecting the card of Lind, did not speak as he finally pocketed the object. It looked tiny in his spade-like palm.

Ojin shook his head—more out of resignation than sorrow. "How did it come to this?" He asked the question as much of himself as he did the man that stood within Dueling distance of him—but the man answered anyway.

"It's obvious." His accent was coarse, the words it lined no-nonsense. "You failed."

The crown prince scoffed. "Failed! Tell me something, Colonel. How precisely did _I_ fail? Was I the one who activated the ARC-V reactor prematurely? Was I the one who Summoned a gigantic, dimension-destroying dragon into existence?"

"You sanctioned Academia's actions. Our interests aligned at the time, and so we did everything we could to carry them forward. But … they still failed."

Ojin nodded. "And you don't tolerate failure, do you?" he said ruefully. "Thirty years, you served my father and my kingdom—three full decades of military service. You could have been an excellent general. You could have cultivated a career for yourself that would've earned you a funeral with full honors. But no—you could never bear to leave the battlefield, because you wanted to make sure failure was not an option. In all that time, that was the one thing I knew most about you. Ever since I was born into my station. You didn't like to fail—and you didn't like it when other people failed."

" _Genau_."

A wry smile creased the prince's lips. "So … would you say you've failed now?"

The traitorous colonel blinked, momentarily confused. "You brought the vast majority of the country's standing army—and what looks like quite a few private security forces as well—to my doorstep," said Ojin. "You intended to drag me out on the street, kicking and screaming. Because it was your intent to show that the failures you believe I should be blamed for … would make me weak in the eyes of the world. And yet"—he shrugged—"here we are."

He cleared his throat. "So now that we've established the script already isn't unfolding as planned, you may as well permit me the dignity of getting us _back on track_. Is this the part where you list your demands, and expect me to accede to each and every one of them?"

The colonel sighed. "If there is one thing my service has taught me about expectations, Ojin," he said, "it's that reality is never what you _expect_. Reality just _is_. There will be no expectations here. No pretend games or fantasy. You _will_ accede to each and every one of our demands."

Ojin smirked. "Or?"

The colonel activated his Duel Disk. The huge black blade it generated spoke for itself.

"Ten minutes from now, you will issue a proclamation of abdication," said the colonel, "and dissolution of the monarchy and nobility that governs the Kingdom of Misgarth. You will then submit yourself to arrest, trial, conviction, and execution by sealing and card destruction, on charges of gross misappropriation of funds—to wit, the failure of the Arc Area Project—and of heresy against Ædonai doctrine. To wit, that your failure to unite the Dimensions per the Arc Area Project, and to subjugate them in the name of the Fusion Dimension, is tantamount to suggesting the lack of supremacy of the Summoning method we celebrate, and by proxy, that the imitations of the other Dimensions should be anything but inferior to our own … "

Ojin couldn't help it—he laughed. Even knowing that his once-most-trusted military commander wanted to see him turned into a card and then ripped to shreds, to hear those words out of the man's own mouth took the cake.

"'Supremacy of the Summoning method'?" he said incredulously. "I'm all for the old guard and sticking to the proverbial roots, Colonel, but there's such a thing as living in the past. You can't simply force the people to—"

"I won't be forcing anyone," the colonel said bluntly.

That was when a third voice was heard to speak up. It sounded like it was coming from the entrance hallway.

 **"** **_Heaven-Crushing Fist!_ ** **"**

The explosion that followed didn't just dent the doors—it blew them right off their hinges. That was not an easy thing to do; like every other door in Ojin's palace, the hinges were reinforced, and the doors themselves were solid, quantum phase-shifted titanium underneath all that meticulously crafted wood. The main batteries of a battleship could have knocked down such a door—but _denting_ it was another story.

The colonel, entirely unruffled, thumbed over his shoulder. " _He_ will."

Ojin stood very, very still. He knew this new voice, had heard it in his mind almost every day since he was a boy.

He didn't feel quite so cocky now.

In the silent void left behind from the explosion, the sound of creaking wheels, and the thin whine of the motors that powered them, buzzed in his ears like so many mosquitoes. Their owner drove over the crumpled door, emerging from the dust at last with little fanfare.

He coughed, a long, wet hacking noise that made Ojin wince. "My apologies for the delay, _Kämpfer_ ," he wheezed a minute later. "The palace guard wished to make a final stand. I had little choice but to … teach them a lesson."

"You didn't miss much, _Direktor_ ," the colonel said idly. "We were just beginning to discuss our demands."

Ojin found his voice at last. "Well—welcome to the twenty-first century," he addressed the newcomer, staring for a long time at the high-tech wheelchair that conveyed him. "It's been a long time since we last met. I was beginning to think we never would again." He wondered if the man had missed the implied _hoping we never would again_ , and repressed the urge to swallow.

No luck. "You sound awfully confident for a deposed princeling," snapped the old man from his electronic throne. "The only reason I haven't sealed you where you stand is because I know you weren't to blame for my exile."

Ojin knew the story behind that. He wished he'd been old enough to remember it firsthand. "Yes, well, I don't expect you'll be treating Akaba Leo like you are me," he said, crossing his arms. "The Standard—er, _Pendulum_ Dimension, pardon me—is dragging their heels in bringing him to trial. You may very well end up dead of old age before they end up punishing him for whatever crimes they manage to conjure up."

Green eyes, still sharp despite being so clouded with age, narrowed dangerously. "We will see about _that_."

The colonel stepped forward. "If we might return to the matter at hand?" he said, not a little bit impatiently. "I'm a rather busy man. A _coup d'état_ may be on the top of my to-do list, but it is hardly the only order of business I must attend to today."

"About that." Ojin had been using the time bantering with the unexpected arrival to do some quick thinking. "The colonel makes a rather tempting offer, but as much as I'd prefer to go to my grave with my head held high," he said sarcastically, "I don't feel like martyring myself just yet. So I'd like to propose an alternative."

He turned to the man his colonel had called _Direktor_. "I still have people in intelligence who are loyal to me," he said. "They tell me some pretty interesting stories about what you've been up to these past few days. You seem to be in search of something … or some _one_. They don't exactly agree on which it is, but there is one thing their claims do have in common. A fragment," he said meaningfully, "of something the public thought lost, but never was."

Ojin paused to take in the effect of his words on the old man. He saw the spark within the cloudy green eyes, and fought the urge to grin. "You will have your abdication … your dissolution, all those things—even the show trial and the time in prison. But in return for my life"—he paused again—"I offer you that fragment. Free of charge."

The two men traded glances. "I know how many lives were affected when it was part of a whole," Ojin said. "How many people could have been saved because of it. I rather think the loss of one"—he pointed to himself—"seems a trivial price to pay for its recovery."

He could almost hear the gears turning in both gentlemen's heads. The prince hoped the noise masked his own.

Finally, the _Direktor_ spoke. "All right. Tell us where it is. And there's no need for you to take us there," he said.

He pressed a switch on his wheelchair. In an instant, no less than a score of gray-clad soldiers had rushed in the door, taken up positions, and leveled the blades of their Duel Disks right at the crown prince.

The colonel smiled thinly. Ojin had seen less dangerous expressions on the _nu_ -level Duelists that formed his secret police. "You'll have plenty of time," said the huge man, "to compose your resignation speech while we're busy."

Ojin returned the smile in kind. "Damn. And to think I was actually entertaining making a break for it," he said.

But just as quickly, the smile was gone, and he'd adopted a warning tone in his words as his two uninvited guests turned to leave. "I know why your organization wants those fragments," he called out to them. "I've even heard rumors that it's only the _first step_ of what you plan to accomplish. Are you _mad?!_ "

They disappeared through the door. And Crown Prince Ojin, though his brain was already drawing up plans of rebellion, was left to shout at nothing but the twenty troops that advanced on him.

"All you're doing is repeating history!" The marble halls resonated with every word. "That fragment didn't spare my life—it just bought me a front-row seat for when you fail! _And when you do—!_ "

He stopped, and allowed himself one more smile. "When you do," he said, so quietly that even the soldiers had to strain to hear his words, "you will _grovel for a quick end_. All of you … "

* * *

The two men continued down the palace hallways. Occasionally, they cast dispassionate glances on the cards—once the guards who'd sworn an oath to protect the prince with their lives—that now littered the spotless floor.

"He certainly has conviction," remarked the elder of the pair as they turned a corner.

"Conviction means nothing if it's misplaced," the colonel said shortly, pulling out a mobile from his pocket. "We will not fail, _Direktor_. We have already invested enough in this venture that the very notion is impossible."

The old man nodded. "If you are wrong, _Kämpfer_ ," he murmured, "you won't be making your explanations to _me_."

He was staring at the phone in the colonel's hand as though it were a grenade. The colonel stared at it as though his _Direktor_ had just pulled the pin.

He took the hint. " _Jawohl_." Thick fingers scrolled through his speed dial. "I will make the call."


	2. I

ACTIVATE – MATERIAL:01: GLADIATOR

> _"_ _Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird."_
> 
> – The Book of Revelation, Chapter 18, Verse 2, KJV

I

_You Show Duel School_

_Fusion Dimension_

Black smoke billowed into the sky, ruining what would have otherwise been a picturesque day. Flames gushed from within the shattered mountain like pus from an open wound. If not for the surrounding hillside, and the simple stone façade hewn into one side of the landmass, the display would have looked not unlike the eruption of a long-dormant volcano. But the smoke was far more oil than ash, and the haze of fumes that shrouded the land reeked too much of petrol for anyone to even consider that what had happened here was a testament to the power of nature.

Instead, it was a testament to the power of man—and the depths to which he would sink in demonstrating it.

The soldier was only one of a squad patrolling the remains of what had once been the You Show Duel School—or at least, the You Show Duel School that had served as an asylum for the traitors and defectors who'd decided to reject the old Academia. Ordinarily, regulations would have dictated that he travel in a group of three at minimum. But today had been so routine—indeed, a less professional mind would have called it 'easy'—that even his XO had not bothered to care much when asked if there was a risk to travelling alone here.

Their attack, like the others leading up to it, had come virtually without warning—and with even less mercy. Half of the campus grounds had been destroyed in the first artillery salvo alone. The structure beneath the mountainside had been specially reinforced, or otherwise there would have been cave-ins by now that had trapped its inhabitants—and worse still, blocked off the soldier and his squad from the reason why they'd shown up in force in the first place.

His ear chirped just then, a faint noise coming from the earpiece built into the steel-gray helm that covered every inch of the soldier's head, save the satisfied smirk on his mouth. That smirk faded slightly—whoever was calling had done so at an inopportune time. But his orders—and the reputation of the person who was contacting him now—were as fresh in his mind as the day he'd first heard them.

He'd barely answered the call when: "Sit-rep."

The single word was laced with his CO's natural accent—and spoken in the gruff bark of a man used to giving orders and expecting them to be obeyed, rather than the other way round. The soldier had to smile at that—there was something to be said for being short and to the point.

"The courtyard and the upper levels have been secured, Colonel, sir," he reported smartly. "We anticipate complete takeover shortly. Conscription commenced twenty minutes ago."

"How many?"

"None so far, sir," said the soldier. "As was anticipated." He glanced at the ground around him. The hot winds of the blaze had mercifully blown many of the cards that littered the campus out of harm's way. But the air was still hot enough, and still oily enough with chemical stink, that he imagined their occupants—all the men, women, and children who had attempted to make a stand against him and his compatriots, and failed—had to be feeling pretty crispy inside their digital prison right now.

"The headmaster?" His CO sounded bored—like he didn't care if he was about to get any "recruits" as a result of today. Maybe he'd been expecting the lack of cooperation even before this strike had even been ordered. But the soldier knew he wasn't here to pick the man's brain—that was more the purview of his XO than anyone else.

"Still tracking, sir," he answered, a little uneasily. He knew what question was coming next. "We believe he wasn't on campus at the time. We'll be checking the dimensional transit logs before we pull out."

There was a pause. "And your mission objectives?"

The soldier grimaced. _There it is_. He paused just long enough for his CO to get the impending sense of bad news. " … The experiments were not present, sir."

He heard a long, exhaling breath in his ear, laced with static. Then: "Captain … put me through to your XO."

There was an unusual amount of emphasis in the two letters, almost religious in its delivery—as if the person who'd been put in charge of this assault was more than just an executive officer. That, he thought, was certainly true. But her orders had been clear. He could not countermand those any more than he could the orders of her superiors.

"She's questioning the deputy head now, sir," he said. "She was very adamant that their _teatime_ not be disturbed—"

 _BOOM_.

The smooth walls at the mountain's summit chose that moment to explode; a veritable fireworks display of gray dust, violet flame, and crimson lightning had erupted from the topmost window set into the bastion. From this explosion of color and energy emerged two forms that could not have been more different from one another. One was much faster than the other, hurtling out into empty space while its companion followed at a leisurely pace.

Unfortunately, the first figure's speed was not a consequence of any choice he'd made. It was apparent from the beginning that he'd been blasted away just like the wall. He spiraled through the air, buffeted by the shockwave but clearly unconscious; his arms weren't flailing even an inch at his predicament.

The soldier cringed as the teenaged boy bounced once off the steep stairs that sliced up the mountainside, then tumbled down the remainder until finally coming to a stop, mere meters from where he stood. That was more than close enough for him to identify who the unfortunate soul was.

At one time, he had held a great deal of respect for Edo Phoenix. There was a part of him that still did—some things never changed, and the bond between soldier and officer was one of them. He'd done his tour of duty under Edo in the Xyz Dimension; indeed, it had been the supreme commander of Academia's forces there who had helped him work past the dreams he had of his time in Heartland City—of the ruin and fire they had inflicted upon its people. They had troubled him in those days, as they had many of his unit. Thanks to Edo, they no longer did.

He stared down at the unconscious boy, and found he could muster up no emotion whatsoever for his former commander. Whatever pangs of regret he felt at what had happened to a boy barely older than he was had been snuffed out by the smoldering embers of betrayal, caused by a fury at what this boy had become … and what he'd thrown away to get to this point.

Any further rumination on Edo's fate was shattered by the shadow of the second figure. This one was far larger—too large to be just one person. And sure enough, the moment the talons of the car-sized dragon had touched earth, its dark, hard-light body—so armored as to look more puppet than beast—disappeared into thin air. The last trace of its existence the dragon left behind were its protuberant eyes, staring so intently into the soldier that he felt the gaze pierce straight through the Kevlar micro-weave fibers of his uniform, and well into his own flesh and bone.

The gaze of the monster's rider, if anything, was stronger still, even though it commanded only half the presence it had used to. She was tall and thin—a good head taller than he was—and roughly twice the age of Edo, with all the advantage in rank that implied. Spring-green hair fell down her shoulders and spilled down the small of her back. Nothing set her apart from the soldier save two things: first, the threadbare, patchwork violet overcoat that draped over her like some secondhand cape—and second, the burning gaze set within the thin face of his executive officer.

Every soldier had heard the stories of what had happened to Dr. Gwendolyn Grimm: the dreadful wound that had dimmed her emerald-green eyes all too briefly—the deceptively thin scar that slashed across her face in the flattest of lines. Surgery had done its job, but it had not been enough—now, something feverish had been allowed to reside in the Psychic Duelist's one remaining eye; the loss of its twin had only intensified the ferocity within. The remnants of its companion had been left to fester like an acid bath in the empty socket left behind; something unspeakable simmered and burned in its place, now—something that failed to disguise the worst of the wound that lay beneath. Even now, that _something_ twitched and throbbed behind the plain black cloth that protected the wound, constantly leaking dark, caustic slime with every attempt at escape, like horrible imitations of tears.

He was too used to the sight to forget his orders—but the sight before his eyes was still enough to turn anyone's stomach. "Never mind," he said after he'd regained his composure. "She just finished up. One moment."

Immediately, he snapped to attention with a quick salute. " _Der Kämpfer_ ," he said briefly. Nothing more needed to be said—when the CO wanted a report, you didn't waste time with idle banter.

This was a fact that even Dr. Grimm, for all her formidable nature in combat, knew to be true. A slim finger reached into her own earpiece, tuning her into the call.

"We were too late." Her British accent laced every vowel with a razor's edge. "They were definitely here, but they didn't overstay their welcome. Our troops are combing the surrounding area. We'll get a twenty before long."

"This is the third time, Lieutenant Colonel," her CO grunted sternly. "You were specifically selected to lead these missions because of your experience in deep cover. I permitted you the opportunity to operate with more freedom than usual on account of the assaults I have been coordinating myself. But this string of failures is not like you."

A pause. "Perhaps I was premature in reinstating your former rank—or in overseeing your … _upgrades_." The ruminant tone, so unlike her CO, did not last for long. "You are permitting yourself to get drunk on your newfound power. I suggest you clear your head and focus on your mission."

Dr. Grimm stiffened and sniffed—but not before her single eye had flicked to the thin, silvery lines that lined her wrists. "I had no choice but to act quickly, Colonel," she said, wiping black mucus from her right cheek. "Our advance scouts determined that neither Sakaki Yūshō nor our mission objectives were on campus. However, I could not take the risk of someone trying to warn him, so I made a judgment call and ordered the strike prematurely."

"Yūshō may have sufficient warning already," said the colonel. "My contacts elsewhere have reported no additional incursions. Which means there's only one other place the experiments plan to go."

"Then I take it you were more successful?"

"Yes. As of now, the Kingdom of Misgarth is under martial law. All loyalist leaders have been sealed. The crown prince has been deposed and arrested. His assets have been seized and are being put to use even now—including the fragment whose companion pieces we have already recovered from our concurrent ventures."

"We have no time to waste, then." The XO tapped at her Duel Disk. "Send me transport coordinates. I'll receive my orders from there—"

"No." There was no hint of malice in the single word, but she still flinched as though her CO had just slapped her in the face. "We can afford no further mistakes—not when we are so close to the _second phase_."

Silence. The soldier was left to wonder what precisely the second phase entailed. "I'm sorry. I know how much this means to you. But I can't let you lead this one. As of now, I'm assuming operational authority of this mission."

"Who said that?" said Dr. Grimm. "Was it you? The _Director_?" She pronounced the word with as much religious connotation as the colonel had employed in referring to her. "Or"—suddenly hushed—"was it possibly—?"

" _Wendy_."

The single eye widened. A sizzling noise filled the sudden silence that had descended on the ruined mountain just then: the oil-black pus that continually leaked from her damaged eye bubbled and splattered on the stairs.

The soldier had to use every restraint he had to not flinch as the glutinous mass burst into violet flames before his eyes. Dr. Grimm was very particular about how she was addressed; indeed, perhaps only the _Kämpfer_ —and whatever superiors he served—had the right to call her by that name anymore.

The colonel's voice had stopped just short of open hostility. "I am more than aware that we are no longer a part of Academia," he growled. "I am also aware of the circumstances that allowed you to serve under me again, as you did in your youth and in your prime. But you know _who_ and _what_ we work for now. There must always exist, in all things, a _chain of command_. We are all one in this chain. _Multi in unum_. Do you understand me, Wendy?"

The soldier saw a faint wobble in the Psychic Duelist's neck, and knew she'd just resisted the urge to swallow. But he took one look at the baleful green eye looking right at him, and interpreted that as a direct order to never discuss anything he'd seen and heard today with anyone for as long as he drew breath.

Finally, Dr. Grimm nodded. "I understand, Colonel. I won't _lose sleep_ over this, for what it's worth. We both know they haven't forgotten me there. Best to use a fresh face this time."

Her tone was conciliatory enough. But her stilted words told the real story; the soldier knew she would follow her CO to the bitter end—even if it meant disobeying a direct order from the man who controlled them both.

But just as quickly, Dr. Grimm softened. "Talking of fresh faces … I'm sending one to you now." She nodded at the soldier, then to the still-unconscious Edo. The soldier took the hint, and made the proper adjustments to his Duel Disk immediately and without question. "Perhaps he may make an exemplary division commander once more … "

"We will see," said the colonel. "Supervise the conscription for now and stand by for further orders."

"Yes, sir." She saluted smartly and stiffly. " _Unum in multis_."

Without another word, Dr. Grimm deactivated the communicator, and locked her eye on the captain just as he'd managed to finish programming the exit coordinates on his Duel Disk's aperture program. He snapped to attention.

"Send three squads back with him." The lieutenant colonel gestured to Edo. "Have the rest stand by to reinforce."

The captain nodded—but not without restraint. "Three more squads alone will almost double the Colonel's strike force," he said after a second of mental math. "Are we certain we need that many men for this operation?"

The Psychic Duelist paused to wipe a trail of black goop from her cheek. "I know the ins and outs of his target better than anyone in our organization," she replied. "I helped coordinate his plan of attack myself. And believe me—he _will_ need every last man we can spare. It's too heavily fortified for us to assume otherwise."

Quite suddenly, she yawned, and stretched her body until the soldier could hear joints popping. But just as soon as this unexpected lapse of behavior had manifested, it was over, and she was her usual self once more.

"Captain."

He stiffened. "Ma'am?"

"You will take command of this operation in half an hour. I must make efforts to track down our fugitives."

He considered this. "Lieutenant, due respect: the Colonel was insistent you sit this one out. I don't think even you could get away with disobeying a direct order from him."

"I'm not looking for escaped experiments, Captain," said Dr. Grimm. "I'm looking for escaped _students_. I don't believe for one second that we caught this entire school with their pants down. They had advance warning—they knew we were coming. Some of them must have escaped along with Yūsho. If they are allowed to remain out of our reach for much longer, it will mean _consequences_."

She turned away. Before the captain could stop himself: "Where are you going, ma'am?"

Dr. Grimm did not even look back. "I need a _power nap_ ," she said shortly, almost casually, before taking the stairs up to the ruined Duel School. "Just long enough," the soldier thought he'd heard, "for me to pick up their trail … "

The urge for the captain to smirk was overwhelming. Perhaps it was because he knew only too well the dark powers this woman commanded to think her choice of words was coincidence. Or, perhaps, it was because he didn't have to look at her XO's mutilated face again.

Every soldier had heard the stories. Just stories, rumors—nothing anyone could verify. But there were stories all the same. Each one told of something unthinkable— _impossible_. For all the grotesqueness of the wound that dominated her face, these stories whispered, a far worse scar had been inflicted on the mind that lurked beneath.

They had a name for her, all the traitors and defectors that he'd sworn to hunt down: the "Crybaby Doll". Even mouthing the two words in silence made him flinch, out of fear that his XO might have heard them resonate in his thoughts. It had begun as an insult—a mockery of the lieutenant colonel's disfigurement, when word had inevitably spread of everything she had done, and all that had been done to her. But as time went on, the insult had become a badge of honor. Eventually, it had become a symbol of fear.

No one in the organization better knew the value of fear as a potent weapon than the Psychic Duelist who called herself 'the Golem'—because there was no one in the organization, the captain knew, who was quite so _fearsome_.

 _Crybaby Doll_ , he thought again, smirking. He aimed the glowing end of his Duel Disk at the defeated Edo Phoenix, ready at last to send him away to his CO and whatever fate awaited him there. If any crybaby were to be found today, it would be the poor soul that had defiled the face of his executive officer …

* * *

_Maiami City_

_Pendulum Dimension_

"Shut. Up."

Kōtsu Masumi couldn't help but smirk. The sapphire-blue eyes of Hīragi Yuzu were so wide and round that she wouldn't have been shocked to see them roll right out of their sockets and expose twin geodes in her skull.

"It's the honest truth," she giggled, watching Yuzu run her fingers through her pink hair in disbelief. "About a week after Yūya left to rescue you, I found out Academia snuck a mole into LDS. Yaiba and our new friends helped me rat her out." She decided not to mention she'd done all this on a relative lack of sleep. "A month after that, the Headmistress deputized the five of us when this mole's accomplice tried to use LeoCorp technology to cripple the city from the inside out. So," she crossed her arms triumphantly, "not only are we still the school's circuit reps, we're also the founding members of LDS' Section of Investigation and Defense. LID for short."

Next to Yuzu, Sakaki Yūya gulped down a coffee. "Even Hokuto?" he asked, wiping his lips.

" _Especially_ Hokuto," said Masumi, smiling wistfully. "He was part of us from the beginning. We just weren't able to make it official for a while."

They were sitting under an umbrella, at a table that had been erected on the sidewalk. The You Show Duel School was visible from the opposite street corner, its façade popping and bursting with a hundred different vivid colors like fireworks frozen in time. The surrounding scenery looked quite subdued in comparison—not even the two-tone green and red of Yūya's ubiquitous hairstyle added enough color to the browns and silvers of the sleeker, more modern coffee shop they'd decided to visit today.

Yūya looked around. "Where _is_ Hokuto? I'd have thought he'd be with you after being stuck in a card for so long."

"He's with Fuyu," Tōdō Yaiba remarked just then, sliding a latte towards Masumi and sitting down beside her. "White chocolate mocha, just like you wanted," he grinned at her. The LDS Fusion circuit representative rolled her eyes, knowing full well what that grin implied, but she pecked her Synchro counterpart on the cheek anyway.

Yaiba needed a few seconds for the flush of color to leave his cheeks before he spoke again. "Anyway … yeah. Hokuto and Fuyu have known each other for longer than they've known either of us," he said. "And Fuyu was our only Xyz Duelist until Hokuto came back when Z-ARC attacked. They've been catching up ever since."

Yūya looked away hastily. Yuzu seemed not to have noticed. "Well, it certainly sounds like someone's been busy outside of school," she said knowingly. "And I might have to put a class field trip together to this _Gravity Sixteen_ place you said you met one of your new friends at. It sounds like a lot of fun!"

Yaiba and Masumi looked at each other—and without warning, laughed until they were short of breath.

This only served to confuse Yuzu. "What?!"

"You say that now," Masumi said, still giggling and wiping a tear of mirth from her eye, "but I guarantee you that if Hotene meets your class, she _will_ challenge each and every one of them to a Duel over there. And I can't promise you that any of your kids are going to know which way is up by the time she's done with them."

"We'll see about that," Yuzu winked at her. "Futoshi got his new Deck in the mail a few days ago—he's been testing it all weekend. And he's been looking forward to actually Dueling someone with it ever since he placed the order." She shook her head. "I swear … it's been _Dynamist_ this, _Dynamist_ that. Between all his _shivering~_ "—she did a goofy little wiggling dance in her chair that only made Masumi and Yaiba laugh even harder—"and all the times I've overheard him practicing his dinosaur roars in the locker room … " She exhaled, grinning widely. "Kids are a handful. But there's so much payoff in teaching them that it's worth all the headaches they can give you."

"So we've learned with Hotene," sighed Masumi. "They just have so—much—energy! I popped by her house for a visit last week, and I heard her pestering her mom to turn a bit of their backyard into a practice area for the gym classes she's been taking." She threw up her hands incredulously. "Yeah—like all the trampolines in _Gravity Sixteen_ somehow weren't enough for her! She already has the one in her backyard as a birthday present—but I'm beginning to think she goes through them like I go through shoes and clothes. She's flipping all over the place, she wants to hold sleepovers under the stars—and I've never once seen her get tired since the day I first met her!"

"I'd like to know how her family could even _think_ about gymnastics classes after almost losing their daughter," Yaiba remarked over his own drink. "They must work in insurance or something."

Yuzu forced a laugh, then shook her head and exhaled. "It's horrible, everything you told me happened to her—absolutely horrible. Attacked inside her home? Blasted off a building? And all that after you said she'd been _brainwashed_ — _tortured_ , even?!"

Masumi nodded glumly. "Hotene's been through a lot for a girl who just turned ten. And yet, every time I see her, it's like it hasn't even happened. If it weren't for experience, I'd tell her to see a counselor. Only, well, the last time I did, it … " She did not finish her sentence. Nor did she need to; Yuzu and Yūya had already learned that much.

No one spoke for the next few minutes; more attention was devoted to their drinks after that moment of melancholy.

Eventually, Yuzu was first to finish her coffee, and it was perhaps for that reason that she was first to speak again. "Well … to get back to making things official," she said, smiling knowingly. "You? And _Yaiba_?"

Masumi sighed. "Well, it was only a matter of time," she muttered to herself. "Yep—me and Yaiba. Our first kiss happened on top of LDS." She felt her eyes begin to mist over in recollection. "There we were, facing five different monsters—all Level 9-plus—without hardly a hand or an Extra Deck to our names … "

But Yuzu waved her aside. "Yeah, yeah, yeah … so I've read from all the tabloids. Why do you think I made this a double date?" she giggled. "I want you to spill _all_ the truth—a lot more truth than I know those rags ever will!"

Yūya blinked. "Wait—you and I aren't even dating … " He gulped when he saw Yuzu, glaring at him through narrowed _don't-you-dare-ruin-this-for-me_ eyes, reach for something under the table.

"That's honestly all there is to it, Yuzu," Yaiba said, apparently not noticing. "I kissed her, we won the Duel—she kissed me back. And her kiss was much better, too. I guess all those gossip pieces had to pad things out somehow."

Yuzu, having left Yūya sufficiently intimidated, tore her eyes from him at last. "Did she give you a rose?"

"Sorry?"

Yuzu smirked. "A _Crystal Rose_?" She fiddled with her pink Duel Disk, and produced a single card from the Deck inside. "Like this one right here?" She held it up for Yaiba to see.

The Synchro Duelist shook his head. This only made Yuzu's smile even wider. "Too bad—guess she likes me a little bit differently than she likes you." She winked at Masumi in a way that made her cheeks color.

She looked at Yaiba, knowing full well this must be what he felt like every time they touched one another. The Synchro Duelist was looking back and forth between her and Yuzu, a particularly thoughtful look on his face—and an even bigger blush than before on his cheeks— _oh, and there's the smile_ , Masumi thought one second later.

It took all she had to keep from scowling. _Boys_. "Yuzu … could I borrow your _harisen_ for a sec?"

"No problem." She only needed to look at the You Show Duelist to know they were thinking the same thing. One second later, Yuzu had withdrawn a large paper fan from under the table, and passed it to Masumi.

 _WHACK_.

Masumi didn't wallop Yaiba—just rapped him on the skull hard enough that his spiky brown hair still flattened from the force of the impact, causing him to choke on his coffee in surprise.

"Thanks." Masumi smirked at the sight of her spluttering boyfriend, coffee dripping down his chin, as she returned Yuzu's _harisen_. She'd make it up to Yaiba later today—

 _WHAM_.

The paper blades smacked the poor Synchro Duelist on the temple so hard that he spun a full one hundred and eighty degrees, toppling right out of his seat. Yūya was close enough to his friend that the enormous fan had clipped a few hairs right off his scalp, and he stared at the result of the ferocious blow as if it had hit him instead.

"No problem." Yuzu put away the _harisen_ , still smiling as if she hadn't just raised a lump on Masumi's boyfriend. The Fusion user hastily amended her mental note, deciding instead to make it up to Yaiba _with interest_ later today.

Yaiba finally clambered up with a long groan, rubbing at his sore head. " … Okay, okay. I deserved that. _Ouch_. At least you saved me the trouble of asking," he said with a wry look at Masumi. "I promise, I promise—I won't make Yuzu a third wheel in our relationship."

" _Good boy_." Masumi ruffled his hair affectionately as they laughed it off. She was inwardly glad they'd known each other for so long; this had hardly been the first time Yuzu's fan had popped up as a tongue-in-cheek threat.

One person wasn't laughing, however, and it took until the mirth died down for Masumi to notice.

"You've been quiet, Yūya," she noted. "Everything all right?"

For the ace student of You Show Duel School—and perhaps, Masumi thought, of all Maiami City, considering recent events—had been lounging back in his seat, staring away from them all at the Duel School that his father, Yūshō, had founded with his personal philosophy in mind. His eyes—normally dancing with many colors besides the shade of ruby that tinted them—had been hidden behind the iconic star-studded goggles he normally wore on his brow, something Masumi had seen only rarely in all the time she'd known Yūya, and never since Yuzu's return.

Yūya coughed, apparently just now hearing his name. " … Sorry. I've just been thinking." He forced a laugh at the puzzled stares his friends traded with one another, and peeled back his goggles. "I know, right? I guess having three different people living inside my head now means I can actually do that a lot more often."

"That's … actually something I was meaning to ask." Masumi had been clued into the nature of Yūya's unique attributes, having seen pictures of the three boys from different dimensions, and the dragons they wielded, that looked so much like him and his own _Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon_. "Okay—Yaiba and I aren't going to pretend that we know how it's even possible that the spirits of three, four boys your age got sucked into your brain."

Yaiba nodded in agreement. "What we want to know is … honestly, anything you can tell us," he said. "Can you let them take control again, or are they just kind of … there? Like they're watching from the sidelines? How do we even address you now—does it depend on who we're speaking to?"

Yūya did not answer him for a long while. "It's … hard to say. I don't think either of us has been living like this for long enough to find out for sure," he admitted, glancing at Yuzu. "I'm still Sakaki Yūya—don't get me wrong. I'm still the same tomato-brained knucklehead who likes to make a circus out of every Duel he's in," he chuckled. "But with Yūto, Yūgo, and Yūri … and what I've been told of the Z-ARC I was before … "

He fell silent again. "I can talk with them, yeah. I can talk to their monsters as well. You've already seen they've got something in common, too. I think it works best," he eventually said, "if I'm Dueling somebody."

"Same here," Yuzu chimed in. "If I concentrate, I can let my counterparts sense the same things I can. Ruri really likes your eyes, by the way, Masumi." The Fusion Duelist couldn't help beaming at that. "But when I'm Dueling … when I feel that _rush_ of exhilaration … it's something I shared with her and Rin, and even Serena and Ray."

Masumi blinked. "So … you're good if I still call you Yuzu, then?" She nodded, and Masumi exhaled. "Phew. I was about to say, that's going to take some time to get used to. To say nothing of knowing that you used to be Himika's … " Her brain flailed for the proper word for a long moment. "Stepdaughter? Sort of?"

Yuzu buried her hands in her face with a very long moan. "Ugh … yeah. That's a can of worms I _really_ don't want to crack open right now. I've only been back for a few weeks, Masumi. Yūya had a lot more time to process all these changes to his body and mind than I did. Kurosaki and I haven't had a chance to sit down and chat about what this means for us as brother and sister, so who knows what he thinks about this. And my new half-brother seems to be taking things unnaturally well considering how _wacky_ his family tree has become."

"Yeah, well, since when has anything ever fazed Akaba Reiji?" Yaiba chuckled. The laughter died on his lips an instant later when he heard a tinny beeping sound coming from his Duel Disk.

"Ugh—already?" He checked the time, and blanched. "I'd better be off, babe," he said hurriedly to Masumi, getting to his feet. "I promised I'd pick up Hotene and her friend from gymnastics this week, remember?"

Masumi did. Hotene and Emina Rika, the two top students in LDS' Junior Fusion and Junior Synchro circuits, had already been good friends before recent events had shunted them into Masumi's life. Today, they'd become nigh inseparable; she had seen enough Action Duels to know that the two girls formed one of the most formidable tag teams she'd seen in action since Hokuto and Fuyu—who themselves had been Tag Duel champions in the past.

"Don't exert yourself," she said, wrapping her arms around him and kissing his other cheek. "I'd like to have another practice session when you get back."

Yaiba was very, very still. His voice was almost as tiny. "You mean … ?" he managed to squeak.

"With you." Masumi grinned, waiting for the connotations to sink in, and let her voice sink to a purr. " _Only_ you."

She could never resist any opportunity to wind him up, she thought—the blush on the Synchro Duelist's toughened face made it worth the while every time. "At least let me take them home first," Yaiba managed to stammer.

"Perfect." Masumi knew Hotene's trampoline would keep both her and Rika busy all afternoon. "Keep in touch?"

"You know it." Yaiba blew a kiss back at her, a sudden spring in his step as he turned away. "Love you!"

"Love you too!" Masumi hoped she'd never get used to the raw emotion speaking those three words put in her heart. The memory of the first time she'd said them to anyone outside of her own family was one she wished to treasure forever.

Today, however, it only lasted until she turned back to Yūya and Yuzu—and found the latter of the pair with hands to her breasts, blushing as if Masumi and Yaiba had just exchanged vows rather than a good-bye kiss. Yūya sat there, smiling knowingly. Even he hadn't failed to notice the twenty-four-carat hint Masumi had dropped just now.

"He buys you coffee _and_ chaperones the kids?" Yuzu was smirking wider than ever. "You had better keep him, Masumi—you've whipped him _good_."

Masumi shrugged. "What can I say?" she giggled. "I work with gems—I know a rare find when I see one."

"Are you still at your dad's jewelry shop, then?" Yūya asked.

The Fusion Duelist nodded. "I'd already been helping him out for a while before, but yeah—I officially started a part-time apprenticeship a couple months before you returned." She glanced at Yuzu. "I've got a little more leeway as far as personal time off for certain … _commitments_. But"—she slouched back in her seat—"with Academia gone, I don't see myself as needing those commitments much anymore. I mean, I've got to lead my own life sooner or later. Yaiba's just one facet of the huge gemstone I want to carve as far as that's concerned. And let's be honest—it's not like one of their soldiers is going to walk up to the table and challenge me to a Duel for my life, are they?"

"Hey—Yūya!"

Masumi cringed until she nearly slid under the table. She knew that voice. " … Oh, I just _had_ to open my mouth."

With a great effort, she picked herself up and looked the speaker in the eye. " … Hey, Dennis," she said hesitantly. "What're you doing here?" She blinked. "And who's the, uh … the big guy?"

For Dennis McField—skinny as a rail, his frizzy, carrot-colored mop bouncing with every step he took as he approached their table—was not alone. Next to the American exchange student, famous and infamous alike with his exploits through the dimensions, was a man who could not have been more at odds with him if he'd tried.

That he looked a lot older than her father didn't seem to matter much; as she had said, he was indeed a big guy—a _very_ big guy, even. Easily six feet tall, maybe even seven if he stood on tiptoe—and as broad from shoulder to what little neck he possessed as Masumi was shoulder to _shoulder_. The blue, three-piece suit he wore stretched at the seams from his wide, muscular torso, while the red necktie tucked in between looked tiny against the rest of him.

What drew Masumi's gaze most about this mountain of man, however, was the head peering down from its summit. The crown—gleaming above twinkling twin chips of dark lapis lazuli—was shaved completely bald. It might have reminded her of an old friend, who'd recently gone back to China, had the man not also sported a most impressive salt-and-pepper mustache, whose tufts fluttered in the light breeze that had been caressing Maiami City all day.

Dennis thumbed up at his gigantic companion. "I worked with him when I was in New York," he answered. "He's a Dueling instructor at LDS' Broadway campus—and not only that, he's officially recognized as the strongest Duelist in Europe. Allow me"—he put on his most dramatic airs—"to introduce: _Herman von Stadion!_ "

Silence. Yuzu and Masumi traded the same glance of _Who-the-heck-is-this-guy?_ Yūya, though, looked thoughtful.

"Herman here called me out of Heartland City earlier this week to do some catching up," Dennis went on, apparently not even abashed at how his introductory fanfare had netted so little in the way of applause, "and … well, how could I refuse? Herman, this is Kōtsu Masumi—and I've already told you plenty about Yūya and Yuzu."

Herman extended a massive hand—the one that wasn't clutching the large black briefcase he must have brought with him—that could have passed for a flesh-colored shovel. " _Schön! Sie kennen zu lernen!_ " he boomed.

Masumi blinked. Several times.

So did Herman. Immediately, he looked quite sheepish. "Ah, _tut mir leid_ —I forget myself." Even when subdued and contrite, his thickly accented _basso_ made her bones quiver with every word he spoke. "I am hoping my English is much better than my _Japanisch_. It is very lovely to be meeting you, _Fräulein_."

Very slowly, Masumi put out her own hand—tiny against Herman's own—and then promptly received her second shock in as many moments when Herman, instead of merely shaking it, swooped down to kiss the tips of her fingers. She felt the skin of her arm erupt in goosebumps, immensely relieved that Yaiba was not there to see the gesture.

" … Likewise," she managed. Her voice sounded exactly as squeaky and breathy as Yaiba's had just a few minutes ago. Then reason got the better of her flustered state, and she tore her eyes away to look at Dennis. "Um—just to be clear. This is the same Herman von Stadion you worked with when you were … um … "

She lowered her voice to a stage whisper. "Spying for Academia?"

Dennis' eyes widened. "Oh my GOOOOOOOOD!" he yelled, clapping his hands to his temples and looking ready to tear out his own hair. "I _knew_ I'd forgotten something important to tell you! _How_ did this slip my mind?!"

And then, quite suddenly, he was laughing. Masumi, having toppled off her seat for the second time today, felt a headache coming on as she took in the sight of not only Dennis chortling fit to burst, but Herman joining in with a hair-curling belly laugh of his own. She glared at them both, and wondered why Yūya and Yuzu weren't doing the same thing. Some things just weren't worth making a joke about—especially this soon after wartime.

"No, no—he knows, Masumi," Dennis, still bent double, managed to gasp out a few minutes later. "He knows. He almost didn't trust me at first, and I'll admit he had a lot of reasons to be suspicious—but it's a long way to Maiami City from the United States, even by plane. I had plenty of time to explain myself, and I think I've convinced him."

His knees buckled, and he visibly winced, as Herman clapped that shovel of a hand on Dennis' shoulder. " _Ja_. All water under the bridge now, _mein_ overly dramatic friend."

Masumi wasn't so sure. She knew Yūya and his friends had personally vouched for Dennis—but to know that she was talking to the boy who had singlehandedly doomed eight billion people, to say nothing of paving the way for an entire dimension's destruction, left a bitter taste in her mouth that would not go away with mere words.

Of course, she also knew that she hadn't known Dennis nearly as long as he seemed to know Herman. Perhaps they shared that sort of bond where such things could be spoken of in jest—even if polite company said otherwise. So she relaxed … but not so much that her gaze didn't leave Dennis for even a millisecond, even as Herman blocked it on his way over to Yūya and Yuzu.

"Now, then!" he rumbled. "I am hearing tell of the MANY heroic deeds you two have done! On behalf of all of LDS Broadway, I wish to offer you MASSIVE THANKS—and, if you wish it," he added _sotto voce_ , "a job!"

This time, Yuzu traded glances with Yūya. "A job?" they said in unison.

"But of course!" boomed Herman. "Can you imagine? Being the pioneers of a new generation of Entertainment Dueling? The EXPOSURE! The EXHILARATION! The salary's not too bad, either," he muttered with a hand to his mouth, and tipping a wink as if confiding a great secret to the pair.

It was impossible to tell which of the two You Show students looked more starry-eyed. Yuzu, perhaps being descended from the current principal of the school Yūya's father had founded, eventually won out—but only because Yūya himself looked as though he had a burning question on his mind.

"Ah—one condition," Herman said. "Only _one_ position. So"—he clapped his hands—"there must be an _interview_."

"An interview?" A wicked grin was twitching on Yuzu's face. "Does … that mean a Duel?"

The muscle-bound German blinked—and then roared with laughter, louder than ever. "Hah— _even better!_ " he bellowed. Masumi made a mental note to run a comb through her disheveled hair before Yaiba got back. Looking so disheveled after a "private practice session" was one thing. Looking so disheveled _before_ one was quite another.

Herman beckoned to them. "Come with us, then—come! I am seeing your Duel School right across the street! We shall have our interview first—and then, we will see what INCREDIBLE talents and cards you have been keeping from Broadway, eh?"

"Just one question." Herman cocked his head at Yūya. "If you taught at LDS Broadway, and you're friends with Dennis McField … that must mean, at some point, you met my father." He looked up. "Is that right?"

There was no accusation in the question. And yet, for the briefest instant, Masumi thought she'd seen a shadow pass over Herman's face. She might have taken it for a wisp of cloud if there were any to be found in the clear sky.

Herman nodded. " _Ja_. I did know him," he said heavily. "I wish I had the chance to study under him … when I was as young as you. There is much I have left to learn, even in my old age—and I wonder how much of it I could have learned from such a fine man as _Herr_ Yūshō."

The poignant moment hung in the air, like a spider's gossamer thread in the morning dew. "Ah, well," said Herman with a shrug. "I have learned to never dream of all the roads I did not take yesterday—but rather to imagine the roads I could be taking tomorrow! Come, then! Let us see what roads you shall walk, in the prime of your lives!"

Yūya's iconic smile was back on his face as he stood up. "I think that makes two of us!" he said excitedly.

"Make that three!" Yuzu bounced up right behind him. "You should call your dad—let him know the good news!"

No sooner had she said that than Yūya had fished out his bright red Duel Disk. But it only took him an instant to switch on the screen before his smile faded a little.

"That stinks," he muttered. "They must be doing some maintenance—I can't get any bars at all on this."

Masumi checked her device as well. A cursory glance at the **NO SERVICE** splashed on her screen was all she needed. No doubt Yaiba had seen one just like it on his own Duel Disk already.

"It's probably best to wait after the interview, anyway," Yuzu soothed. "It wouldn't make sense to get your dad's hopes up for nothing, right?"

Yūya nodded, though very grudgingly. "Want to come along and watch, Masumi?" he called back at her.

The Fusion Duelist stared at the screen of her Duel Disk again. It was possible that Yaiba, having tried to call her and failed, would come back from the gym and wonder where she'd disappeared to. But the Synchro user was smarter than he liked to behave around Masumi—he knew he'd left her with friends, and that the You Show Duel School was close enough that even at worst, it was the first place he'd look to figure out where they'd gone.

And so Masumi stood up, draining her drink. "Eh—sure, why not?" she shrugged, moving to join them. "At least if someone here gets into trouble, my _Gem-Knights_ and I can stick around to bail you out."

The teens shared a laugh, leading the way for Dennis and Herman. None of them had the faintest idea that in less than forty-eight hours, Masumi was about to be proven more wrong than she could possibly have imagined.

* * *

_Leo Duel School_

_Ten minutes later_

Before his employment with the Leo Duel School and the Leo Corporation as their Chairwoman's personal aide, Nakajima had served a stint with the Japanese Self-Defense Forces—and had had the chance to put those skills to use very recently. Those days were long behind him, but the old training never went away, even at his age.

So when the air before him turned and twisted inside out with a hum of energy and a hiss of lightning, Nakajima barely even started from where he stood, in front of the door leading to his employer's spacious office.

What _did_ make him start, however, was what the telltale sign of an incipient dimensional transmission deposited on the freshly polished marble floor. He would know that crimson jacket and purple top hat anywhere.

"S-Sakaki Yūshō?!"

But the founder of the You Show Duel School looked in no mood to chat. He had barely finished catching his breath and fixing his windswept hair before whirling on Nakajima.

"Where is Akaba Himika?" he demanded. The man sounded like he'd just run miles to get here. _Maybe he had_ , thought the aide. But his instructions were clear.

"She's in a meeting." He thumbed at the closed door behind him. "The headmistress of the Endymion Duel School is inside, and they're in the middle of some delicate—"

"I don't care." Yūshō's voice was rough. "Shut down every dimensional corridor we have—shut down _everything!_ If you want an explanation," he grunted, seeing Nakajima's shocked look, "you'll let me in to talk to her."

He stepped towards him. "Right now."


	3. II

II

The last time Masumi had been inside the You Show Duel School, it was under decidedly different circumstances. One of her classmates had been attacked by Yūya … or at least, by someone he'd believed to be Yūya. Then, her principal had seized the chance to attempt a takeover of the school before new evidence had forced her to abandon the bid. Since then, it had become clear that the whole fiasco had been a misunderstanding—but it had been in this moment, in cracking open this little pebble of time, that had revealed an intricate geode of overwhelming possibilities … of different dimensions, of wars and Duelists who fought them … and of Duelists whose abilities transcended mere Decks and the monsters that lived inside them …

The Fusion Duelist fought the urge to shudder. In a way, it felt good to be back here. Even though this wasn't her school, walking its corridors brought a sense of familiarity back to her—a recollection of simpler, happier times.

The warmness and camaraderie condensed in her heart as several kids ran past, laughing and chasing each other, no doubt on their way to their next class. One of them, a girl of ten or eleven, skidded to a halt, her flyaway red hair practically blazing like a torch from atop the large headband that encircled her head.

"Hi, Yuzu!" she called out. Yuzu beamed at her with a smile that made Masumi wish she had a little sister.

"Hey, Ayu!" Masumi racked her brains for a spell, but soon recognized the name. Ayukawa Ayu, she remembered, had had the bad luck of being the first Duelist to lose to Akaba Reira in the Maiami Championship that had changed the world. She wondered if her _Aqua Actresses_ had improved enough since then to possibly take on Hotene.

"Sorry I can't hang out right now," Yuzu apologized, gesturing to Herman. "I've got some very important things to talk about with this man right here—but maybe you'll catch me later? I might even be Dueling Yūya!"

Ayu's eyes traveled up, and up—and up. Possibly she had never seen such a huge man in her life. The two boys with her—one thin with long blue hair; his companion, pudgy with mousy spikes of dirty blonde—had stopped to take in the sight of Herman as well. Both of their mouths, an amused Masumi noted, were the same perfectly rounded O.

"Whoa … " The thinner of the two, who Masumi also recognized as the Junior Division runner-up, Yamashiro Tatsuya, had craned his neck so far back that he'd plopped to the floor. "You're _tall_!"

"His muscles are so big," whispered his friend, Harada Futoshi, already shivering where he stood in apparent awe. "You must be super-strong!"

Herman let loose another hair-raising belly laugh. "I should hope so!" he boomed, throwing out his hands and showing off his arm span for all to see. He nearly filled the width and height of the hallway in doing so.

"I am HERMAN VON STADION! Champion STRONGMAN DUELIST in all of Europe and Americas!" He winked at them knowingly. " _Festhalten, meine kleinen Krieger—und auf wir gehen!_ "

Masumi giggled, unable to contain herself. She had no idea what he'd just said, but it didn't really matter. In one swoop, Herman had scooped up all three kids—Ayu and Tatsuya hung from one forearm, Futoshi from the other—and held them out at full span as if he was a human jungle gym. They squealed and wriggled, laughing fit to burst at the feat of strength—and yet Herman's arms didn't even budge.

" _Seht diesen_ ," he bellowed, " _KOLOSS STARKER MÄNNER!_ "

Yūya clapped, grinning widely. Soon Yuzu and Masumi had joined him. In the same fluid movement as before, Herman had stooped down and swept the kids off his broad arms without even dropping them an inch in midair.

Ayu was breathless with her own mirth. "Can we do that again, Mister?"

Herman flashed a gleaming, toothy grin. "Perhaps once I have finished here, _mein Liebling_ ," he said apologetically, though not without mussing up Ayu's hair with a huge palm. "It puts a smile in my heart to know _Herr_ Yūshō's wisdom shall live on to the next generation."

He turned to Yūya and Yuzu. "Shall we begin?" he asked. "If there are any classrooms that are not being used, that will be perfect. And you"—he pointed at Masumi—" _Frau_ , er … Masumi, I believe Dennis said your name was?"

The Fusion Duelist nodded. "Would you please inform this girl's father that I am wishing the use of his Dueling facilities for half an hour?" Herman added with a glance at Yuzu. "I shall not be long with the interview."

"Um—sure," said Masumi. "You want to come with, Dennis? I don't think there'll be much else for you to do here until the Dueling part actually starts."

Dennis shook his head. "Nah, I'm good. But I think I'll head up there and keep Herman's seat warm when he gets done." A sudden thought struck him. "You think I should call Sora over here? I know Yūya loves an audience!"

Masumi was about to object—past experience had told her that two former Academia operatives in the same room as her was pushing the envelope. Until they themselves proved otherwise, she didn't particularly care if even her principal had something to say about that.

Much to her surprise, however, Herman beat her to an answer. "There's no need for a large crowd, Dennis," he said, waving a hand in denial. "As entertaining as that would be, I would remind you that I'm here on business. Perhaps this Sora could be approached later. Besides," he smiled, "I think these kids will be audience enough."

He indicated the three youngsters he'd picked up earlier. It was impossible for Masumi to determine which of them looked more excited to see the Duel ahead.

She shrugged. "All right, all right. I'll find Yuzu's dad and fill him in." Herman bowed slightly, and allowed Yūya and Yuzu to lead him away. The latter of them waved at Masumi with a wink and a "Good luck!"

"Well." She turned to Dennis. "Think you can keep three kids busy for a while longer?"

The American was already poring through a handful of cards—not from his Deck, but from a separate pocket she guessed must hold a side Deck. His grin was nowhere near as broad as Herman's, but somehow felt even brighter.

"Three kids against the pride of LDS Broadway?" He winked. "They'll be eating out of my hand before Herman's even finished."

Masumi cocked an eyebrow. "Famous last words?"

Dennis winced and put a hand to his heart. "Madam, that upsets me. You wound me with your words."

The Fusion user felt the icy smile crystallize over her lips. "I've done worse to more dangerous Duelists than you."

Dennis, she was pleased to see, deflated a little in the face of the combined efforts of her boast and bladelike grin. Just as she had been filled in over his actions with Academia, and all he'd done since to distance himself from their intentions, so must he have been told of her actions _against_ everyone who had marched under their banner. The last such person Masumi had faced was still in hospital, last she'd heard—comatose and under heavy guard, somewhere far away from the prying eyes of the press—with the added assurance that on the very _second_ he was declared competent to stand trial, he would be arrested for a raft of charges not seen in Japan since the Tōkyō subway attacks.

There had been motions made since then to formally designate Academia as a terrorist organization—but those had been rendered moot only months later, after the entity Z-ARC had been defeated and erased from every corner of Yūya's mind, and Yuzu had been returned to life, with echoes of the other Duelists she embodied now present within her. Academia had been declared defunct soon after, with the possibility of their island base of operations being used as a school once more—at least, after the place had been stripped down of all unnecessary equipment and materiel. And there were still calls for swift justice against the leaders of the institution—some of whom, Masumi knew full well, had been more fortunate in evading that justice than others.

"So … yeah. Maybe think about that while you're acting for the kids," Masumi said to him. "Look. I think you're a nice guy. I think you just got too caught up to think about what you were doing. And I think you did well to walk away from Academia when you did. But"—her gaze hardened—"we still both know what their Duelists are capable of. And if I hear that one of those Duelists even _looks_ at those kids the wrong way again"—she glanced at Ayu and her friends—"and you didn't do a thing to stop them … then I suggest you speak very carefully to me from now on."

She took a step forward, and lowered her voice. "Because I might just make sure they _are_ your famous last words."

Dennis' curly hair seemed to wilt from atop his scalp, like a Slinky toy that had lost its spring. His shrunken pupils would have given a needle a tight squeeze. "Eh … heh. Why, uh," he stammered, "why don't we go find Shūzō?" A nervous chuckle squeaked its way out of a grin so forced, it looked as though it had been plastered on his face.

Masumi allowed her smile to warm up a few degrees. "Lead the way."

Dennis nearly tripped over his feet in his haste to put a modicum of distance between them.

* * *

Herman had found an empty classroom on the other side of the school, far from the prying eyes or ears of any pupils still roaming the halls. He now sat at the teacher's desk, the briefcase in his hands propped up by the swivel chair into which he'd somehow squeezed himself. Yūya and Yuzu, at his direction, had pulled the nearest two desks up to his own; he now lounged back in his seat with an expression of extreme confidence, while she—ever the model student—sat up with her hands folded, leaning slightly forward so as to look more attentive.

"Make yourselves comfortable," Herman said pleasantly to them both. "If you need a drink of water or the restroom, feel free to use it now before we start. There is no pressure to be feeling today."

"Thanks," Yuzu replied, "but I think we'll be fine. Well—I'll be fine," she added with a laugh. "I think Yūya just wants to get this out of the way so he can Duel me."

"What she said," Yūya said, sticking his tongue out impudently. Herman's laugh was well-timed; Yuzu had been two seconds away from using her fan on her friend for the umpteenth time.

"As you wish," said the German man-mountain, before fiddling with the latches of his briefcase and opening it behind his desk. Yuzu could not get a good look of what it contained, owing to where she sat.

"Now—for this first part of the interview," Herman said as he worked, "I believe we shall start with a simple test of word association. Have you done anything of the sort before?"

Yūya shook his head. So did Yuzu—but she hurriedly amended her answer. "I know what they're supposed to do, though. They're like psychological profiles, right? You say a word, we say the first word that pops into our heads?"

Herman nodded. " _Ja_. There is no right or wrong answer to the tests—but the answers themselves will create a map of your mindset—and therefore, the sort of temperament you might have as a teacher of Dueling at LDS Broadway. And the words themselves may be deliberately unrelated to the profession as well—which is also the point. One's instinctive response to an unexpected obstacle tells a great many things about what sort of person they are inside. It is why I am finding such tests to be most illuminating when interviewing any candidate for a job at our school."

He leaned back in his chair, which creaked loudly and dangerously under his weight. "Whenever you are ready," he said, "we will begin."

Yuzu glanced at Yūya. He glanced back. Both seemed to share the same expression. "We're ready," she said.

Herman nodded solemnly. He breathed in through his nose, out, fiddled with his briefcase one last time. Yuzu thought she heard the sound of electronic machinery humming to life inside. Then—

"Legion."

Yuzu's eyes nearly left her sockets, so quickly had they widened. Too much had happened for her to immediately take in at once—it was as if the single word had struck at her very core.

Her senses felt as though they had increased fivefold—all of a sudden, she was aware of everything big and small inside the classroom. Every granule of dust that danced in the air, illuminated by the sunlight that streamed through the windows, every whisper of wind that caressed her face from the air conditioning vent directly above her … the shimmering forms of the girls that hadn't been sitting next to her a second ago …

She tried to move her eyes, couldn't. But she didn't need to: even in her blurry peripheral vision, she had no trouble recognizing the green hair and white-pink jumpsuit of Rin, and the dark, flowing locks of Kurosaki Ruri—which meant that the others had to be somewhere behind her—

_Roman_

Yuzu blinked. Had she said that? She didn't remember her lips moving. But it sounded as though it had been her voice. She tried to think—legion, yes. The largest unit of the ancient Roman military—

"Army." Yuzu barely registered Yūya speaking. He sounded far away, as if the classroom had become her whole world, and every desk inside a different continent in a sea that went on forever. But even then, she could hear the confusion in his voice. Was he looking at Yuzu right now?

"Consume."

Herman had given them no time to think, and even less to prepare; scarcely had they given their answers to his first word when his second had boomed from his lips like the deep note of a gong—

Yuzu stiffened. A hand, unseen and unfelt save only by her own senses, had reached around her neck, the slim fingers closing against her windpipe. She tried taking a breath, found that she could—the grip, surprisingly strong, was not completely choking her—

_hunger_

This time, Yuzu knew it was not her voice. Nor had the word been spoken aloud; it had been whispered in her ear, and then the fingers had tensed around her throat—a head of indigo hair, bound by a familiar yellow ribbon, dipped into the corner of her eye—the large bead of a bracelet much like one she'd owned a lifetime ago dug painfully into her neck—

**_hunger_ **

_what are you doing_

Yuzu was no longer sure of whether or not she was speaking; if the words her mind could still register were truly her own. She thought she heard Yūya say "Food," as blankly and stupidly as she herself must be sounding right now—but again, Herman's omnipresent voice rang in her ears—

"Twenty."

He had disappeared completely from her sight. The teacher's desk Herman had commandeered for himself had risen up before them like some primordial monolith atop an insurmountable cliff, the backdrop of an ever-changing stage where audience and auditorium felt like one and the same. Of Yūya there was now no sign—the tiny, lonely continent that had been his desk had drifted away—she was alone now, with Rin and Ruri, all the girls whose spirits she carried—

A memory took hold of her for a split second just then, there and gone before she could muster the energy to hold it in place. She'd been three years old, and her preschool's class play was in full swing. She'd gotten the lead role, practiced incessantly for it—only to clam up and forget her lines when the spotlight was finally on her. She'd bounced back from that inauspicious start in the years since—and for that reason, she knew nothing of the sort was happening today—

She stepped forward just then—the girl who had restrained her. _Serena_. Her scarlet jacket fluttered in a wind that Yuzu could not feel—blocking her view … shielding her? Or was she …

 _Questions_.

Serena's hands had tightened into fists. _What are you doing?_ Yuzu heard herself ask again. She earned nothing for her trouble but a hard stare that sizzled with resolve … and something else.

"Violet."

 _Royal_.

Serena had offered the response barely a second after Herman had spoken. Yuzu was getting the distinct impression she was being crowded out—of being silenced on her own stage, where she had been the star of her own show. But that was no longer the case now; one of the girls whose spirits she housed had apparently grown tired of her new lease in life—but why now?

Why her?

Herman's questions were becoming more rapid-fire in their delivery. Perhaps he had taken her more sudden—more confident—replies as an indication he should speed up; he allowed only a matter of seconds for any forthcoming answers, before moving on in the time it took to draw breath. But Yuzu, faced with the back of a defiant Serena, and a Rin and Ruri who seemed unable—or unwilling—to stop her, found the breaths she took icy and rattling, as if even these were costing her more effort than she'd ever expended in her life—

"Adapt." _Change_.

"Twelve." _Clock_.

"Biding." _Time_.

She could not feel her body, much less move a muscle. Her mouth felt like it had been stuffed with a wad of cotton. Every inch of skin below her neck was numb with the same tendrils of cold that caressed at her lips and crept down her mouth, spreading into her lungs and piercing through her bones—she could feel them vibrate in her body, from her femurs to her phalanges, united in a song only she could hear—the words still kept on coming—

—and yet Serena still kept on speaking—

_wait_

"Evolve." _Advanced_.

"Six." _Feet_.

"Crucible." _Forge_.

_stop_

As if the single word had been a command, Rin and Ruri moved as one. Neither spoke a single word—neither even blinked. Unbound by physical limits like mass and muscle—having been reduced to a mere spiritual form within Yuzu's own mind—the speed at which they lunged for Serena, hands balled into fists, was almost instantaneous.

Almost.

"Survive."

There was no "almost" with Serena. She'd intercepted the fists of her _doppelgängers_ before Yuzu knew what had happened, so quickly had she moved—and caught them effortlessly in her own hands. Serena hadn't even turned around—nor did she need to. Yuzu could _feel_ something when she looked at her counterpart now—something foul and polluted, something that should not be.

 _Victory_.

Serena's response—delivered with an animalistic pleasure Yuzu had never once heard from her in all the time she'd known of her existence—renewed the tendrils of pure cold that assailed her inside and out a hundredfold. They tightened within her like strings, binding her body, mind, and soul—truly helpless, truly defenseless—

She heard no sound—no snapping of bone, no screams of pain—when Serena twisted the outstretched hands of Rin and Ruri at the wrists, forcing them to bend at odd angles, before finally tossing them away from her as if swatting so many bothersome insects—

"One."

An unnatural silence had descended. A cold, gray mist was closing in on Yuzu; Ruri and Rin were nowhere to be seen. Even Akaba Ray—if she had ever summoned the courage to show herself in the first place—had long since disappeared. Only Serena, the shadow of the monolithic wall behind her, and the vague sense of solid ground under Yuzu's feet could still be made out against the sinister fog.

And now Serena was turning towards her, revealing her face to Yuzu for the first time. The vivid green of her eyes gleamed like the scales of a snake; her lips peeled back in a sneering smile, just barely exposing the tips of her perfect white teeth—she was drawing herself to her full height—the snake was ready to strike, to sink its venomous fangs into her skin—

 _Left_.

She never seemed to move. Yuzu was only faintly aware of an open palm smashing into her breast—and then straight through her cold flesh. The force was astonishing; Yuzu was catapulted backwards, flying far too long and soaring far too high—the mist was closing in on her now, obscuring everything, even her own body—

— _my body_ —

That was all Yuzu was able to think before blackness overtook her. The last sight her eyes beheld was of her own shrinking figure—her pink hair, her dark red skirt—and of Serena slowly stepping towards it, hands outstretched—

* * *

Herman nearly jumped out of his chair as Yuzu pitched forward with a deep gasp.

" _Guter Gott im Himmel!_ " he exclaimed, hand over his heart. "Do not be scaring an old man like that, _Fräulein_!"

She didn't answer. She was still breathing as if she'd just run miles—and her forehead, Herman now saw, was slick with sweat. Immediately, he adopted a much different tone to his words, one far softer and less bellicose than was his usual.

"Are you … hearing me?" he said tentatively. "Are you feeling well?"

Yuzu nodded vigorously—perhaps a little too much so. "Y-yes, sir," she stammered. Her hands were shaking, and she was staring at them as though seeing them for the first time. "W-why? Is that the end of the test? D-did something happen?"

Herman nodded. "I think that will do for the first part, _ja_ ," he said, looking uncharacteristically abashed. "I am to blame. I … underestimated how much pressure that the both of you might have been feeling from this interview."

"The both of us?" Yuzu blinked owlishly. Then it hit her—and she rounded on Yūya almost at the same moment.

The boy was not breathing as heavily as she was, nor was he sweating or shaking nearly as profusely. But his face was ashen, and his eyes stared straight ahead at the whiteboard—glassy, unblinking, and unmoving—in an uncannily accurate imitation of what Yuzu guessed was the infamous thousand-yard stare.

"No, no, no … " She bit her lip, waved a hand in front of his face, then clicked her fingers—once, twice. Then, on the third click, Yūya finally flinched; his whole body twitched for a split-second as though he was having a seizure.

"I'm okay!" he said far too quickly. He glanced apologetically at Herman. "I'm—I'm okay, sir. I-I don't know what came over me."

"The fault is mine, Yūya," said Herman, waving his hand dismissively. "And there is no need for either of you to 'sir' me today. Herman will be doing just fine for now."

He stood up from the teacher's desk, ignoring the groan of relief from his chair. "Are you feeling well enough to continue?" he asked. "There is still a Duel to be fighting today. If you are not feeling up to the task, I am willing to postpone it for another time." He frowned. "Perhaps some refreshment—some time to clear your heads?"

Yūya swallowed. "Um … no, s—Herman," he said hurriedly. "I think I'll be fine."

Herman turned his gaze on Yuzu. She nodded eventually. "Yeah. We'll be a lot calmer once we've had our Duel. We're a little more used to proving ourselves that way instead of with … well"—she shrugged—"word games."

It was plain to see that Herman was not entirely convinced. He stared at them for a long time—but eventually, he gave in with a sigh. "As you wish," he said slowly. "If you would show me to your Dueling arena, then?"

Yūya's and Yuzu's faces both lit up with equally intense smiles. "Right this way," they said in unison, filing out of the classroom.

Neither of them saw Herman staring at where they'd been in the doorway, his eyes narrowed in a scrutinizing look. The deep blue gaze flicked to his briefcase, still slightly opened, for a few more seconds. Finally, he sighed and shook his head, making the ends of his mustache flutter, and closed the clasps with a _click_.

Then, Herman squeezed himself through the doorway to rejoin Yūya and Yuzu. His long stride meant he didn't have long to catch up; within seconds he was almost in lockstep with them, taking two steps for every three of theirs.

* * *

_Five minutes later_

Masumi was impressed despite herself. After collecting Shūzō from his office, explaining the situation on the way, and finally reaching the school Dueling arenas with Ayu and her friends in tow, Dennis had busied himself with doing what he claimed to do best: entertainment. He'd tossed a few of his cards into the air, and then—through some trickery of the Solid Vision that made _Duel Monsters_ possible—one press of a button on his Duel Disk had made a _Bound Wand_ , a _Wonder Wand_ , and a _One-Shot Wand_ appear out of thin air where those cards had been an instant ago, and he'd started juggling all three without even pausing for breath to _oohs_ and _ahhs_ from the three kids.

He hardly resembled the same Dennis she'd threatened with bodily harm mere minutes ago, she thought.

Dennis tossed the wands high, clapped his hands—Masumi's eyes, keen as any jeweler-in-training, only just noticed the fourth card pressed between them—and a _Magical Silk Hat_ popped into being with a _poof_ of smoke an instant later. Dennis deftly caught all three wands in the hat to applause from the kids, tipped it upside down—and the three cards he'd used to make the wands appear now fluttered into his free hand.

Magic it was not—the holograms of Solid Vision had the luxury of not having to obey silly things like physics—but it was still an inventive use of the medium. Masumi, who had seen other kids in Maiami City make use of Solid Vision in equally creative ways, both in and out of a Duel, could appreciate that much about it. She clapped along with the kids, feeling a soft little grin work its way across her face as she continued to think of simpler times.

Dennis took an elegant bow. "Thank you, thank you! Now for my next little trick, I'd like a little audience participation, if you don't mind." He chuckled as the three kids immediately put up their hands. "Oh, I'm sure you'd like that, but I need someone a little more my size for this one."

They lowered their hands, disappointed—but not for long. Ayu quickly whispered something in Futoshi's ear, and he to Tatsuya. Masumi rolled her eyes—she was quick to figure out where this line of conversation was going from how quickly the kids' gazes had turned on her.

Sure enough: "What do you say, Masumi?" She'd seen polished diamonds that didn't sparkle quite like the roguish smile that had lit up Dennis' face. "Would you like to be my _lovely assistant_ for a spell?"

Masumi covered her mouth in mock shock, as if pretending to conceal a blush. "Keep your rabbit in your hat now, Copperfield," she said, hands on hips and twisting her grin into something equally cheeky. "I'm a taken woman."

Shūzō, sitting behind the kids, spluttered into hoots of helpless laughter at this. Dennis had gone the same shade of crimson as Ayu's hair. It seemed he had no idea how to respond to the backtalk, for which Masumi was grateful—saying that had felt so unlike her that she had no idea how to follow it up if the banter had kept on going.

Fortunately, he and Masumi were spared further embarrassment when the door to the arena opened. Yūya and Yuzu stepped inside, followed closely by Herman von Stadion, who squeezed himself through the frame with difficulty.

"Curses—upstaged again!" Dennis swiped at thin air with a fist. "Well, that's the end of the magic show, kids—but the good news is we're about to see something a whole lot more spectacular—"

He broke off. "Yūya—are you all right?"

Masumi had just noticed it herself—Yūya looked unnaturally off-color for it being such a warm day outside. Yuzu, if anything, almost looked in worse sorts than he did; the girl was taking every step as though she was walking on sugar glass. Even Herman didn't seem his usual jovial self. The huge man, even as he introduced himself to Shūzō, was stealing looks at both kids like he was worried one of them would keel over in a faint.

Yūya managed a wan smile, and waved halfheartedly at Ayu and the kids. "We're fine, Dennis," he said. "We're … we're just a little bit stressed. I should've expected someone who taught at an LDS branch wouldn't give us an easy interview."

He was looking at Dennis in a particularly meaningful way. More than that Masumi could not determine from simple observation. Perhaps Dennis knew more about Herman's interviewing processes than he was letting on, and had been wrestling with saying as much to Yūya sooner.

Whatever the reason, he seemed to understand—"but you're still fine to Duel?" Dennis still wondered. "I spent all this time hyping these kids up to see you in action, Yūya! If you're not a hundred percent—"

"We are," said Yuzu. "And trust me—these kids are going to be in for the show of their lives."

Now Masumi was frowning. Yuzu had given Dennis almost exactly the same look of intent as Yūya had done just seconds ago. Starting to feel as though she was missing something, the Fusion user made to approach Dennis.

Herman, however, must have just finished his pleasantries with Shūzō, as the latter quickly scurried away, and Herman himself stood to his full height. "Are we both ready?" The acoustics of the arena magnified his already stentorian voice fivefold.

Yūya had already secured his dark red Duel Disk to his wrist. A glowing chevron, yellow as the high sun, extended from the device with one swish of his arm. The noise seemed to revitalize Yuzu, as she wasted no time in mirroring her friend's movements. Moments later, a blade as pink as the Duel Disk on her own arm shimmered into being.

" _Ausgezeichnet._ " Herman flashed a thumbs-up at somewhere Masumi couldn't see. Presumably it was the control room, where Shūzō must have disappeared, because a second later, a loud rumbling had started under her feet—the characteristic noise of gigantic Real Solid Vision generators coming to life.

"Duelists, take your positions!" Even Herman soon had to raise his voice over the din. Yūya and Yuzu both heard him, however, and they responded with unexpected vigor: both Duelists sprinted to roughly ten meters' distance between each other. Yuzu, perhaps wishing to display the grace and fluidity of the sort of circus performer Herman might be looking for, had even thrown in a few acrobatic flips as well, to cheers from the kids—Ayu in particular.

One second after that, the walls and floor vanished, every surface of the arena overwritten by layers upon layers of hard light. "Action Field: _Athletic Circus_ selected," intoned a computerized voice, and Masumi felt a sudden thrill of excitement. It appeared as though today would truly be a blast from the past.

For the ground beneath both combatants' feet had been replaced with a pair of platforms, soaring high into the air, with nothing but empty space between them—or so it appeared. A full three-ring circus had been laid out below, with every kind of acrobatic apparatus imaginable—trampolines, trapezes, tightropes and nets, and more besides, all as brightly and vividly patterned as the stages they'd been built on. Enormous spheres of many colors—the smallest of them not much smaller than Yūya; the biggest able to swallow an average car whole—floated around the duo, and the bleachers, completely empty but for Masumi, Dennis, Herman, and the kids, reached out into infinity until they disappeared into blackness.

Masumi saw all this, and thought back to her first visit to this school. She'd learned back then that this had been Yūya's favorite Action Field. Even after seeing it in play once more, she knew it wasn't hard to see why. The whole place looked tailor-made for someone like him. Perhaps his father, Sakaki Yūshō, had even had a hand in designing it.

But Yūya's grin told the Fusion Duelist all—he knew he had home-field advantage, and he was intent on using it.

 **"Duelists locked in battle!"** he bellowed. **"Kicking the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters!"**

 **"They storm through this field!"** cheered Yuzu. **"Behold! This is the newest and greatest evolution of Dueling!"**

The kids were already on their feet. Dennis pumped his fist. Even Herman had stopped fiddling with his briefcase again as soon as he'd heard the traditional Dueling chant. Masumi couldn't help herself—swept up in the hype, she sprang to her feet and raised her fist with the rest of them.

**"ACTION— _DUEL!_ "**

The ace of You Show was already in his element. Five cards had appeared in Yūya's hand before the Life Point gauges had even set themselves to 4000. Any modicum of ill health or fatigue he'd once possessed had instantly become a thing of the past.

His ruby eyes scanned the cards he held, and immediately he'd made a decision. "I'll start"—he plucked a pair of cards from his hand—"by using my Scale 1 _Dragonpulse Magician_ , and my Scale 8 _Dragonpit Magician_ , to Set the Pendulum Scale!"

Tatsuya gasped. "He's Pendulum Summoning already?"

Futoshi was already squirming in his seat with anticipation. Ayu's mouth was open, and her eyes were starry. "I've never seen him use those monsters to do it before!"

Neither had Masumi; the two robed figures now rising into the air either side of Yūya—one young and full of life, with a double-ended blade in his hands that clashed magnificently with his white robes; the other, dark-robed and in the full of his prime, clutching a carved staff with a ridged halo at one end—were unlike any monsters she had seen Yūya use before. In fact, as far as she could tell, they were _Normal_ Pendulum Monsters—only one other Duelist she knew had ever made use of them before.

"Using these cards," Yūya grinned at Yuzu, "I can Summon as many monsters with Levels 2 through 7 as I wish!" His smile grew wider. "And I have just the monsters in mind. Watch!" He threw his hands into the air:

 **"Swing, my soul's pendulum!"** he cried. **"Draw an arc of light in the sky! Pendulum Summon!"**

**"Come out, my monster servants! _Entermate Trump Girl_ … and _Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!_ "**

Dennis' and Masumi's mouths fell open in tandem. It was hard to tell which of them was more nonplussed. Ayu and her friends were on their feet, pumping their fists and cheering as if Yūya had already won. For all Masumi knew, he might have.

The two monsters Yūya had Summoned could not be any more different: _Trump Girl_ was little more than a _chibi_ -style witch with pencil-thin limbs and bangs that covered her eyes completely (Level 2: _ATK 200_ /DEF 200). _Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon_ , on the other hand, had been Summoned so often that Masumi had memorized every inch of it by now (Level 7: _ATK 2500_ /DEF 2000). She could close her eyes and imagine the rustle of its crimson scales against the ridges of bone that stuck out from its back like wings—feel the bellowing roar against her skin, and the thud of its wide, plodding claws against the earth, like an ancient dinosaur returned to life … and ready to charge.

 _He's brought out his ace monster on the first turn of the Duel?_ the Fusion Duelist wondered. _I know Yūya's always keen to show off, but this is almost silly!_ Yuzu was going to have a hard time getting past that—or whatever Yūya planned to do with it. The sheer number of monsters he'd been able to make with his _Pendulum Dragon_ had been only the first of the bits of legend that had surrounded You Show's greatest student.

"Now, I activate the effect of _Entermate Trump Girl_!" Yūya grinned. "Once per turn, I can Fusion Summon a Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck, using her and any other monsters on my field that I need as Fusion Materials! So I'll fuse _Trump Girl_ with my _Pendulum Dragon_! Put your hands together for my latest and greatest attraction!"

 _Trump Girl_ waved her wand through the air until it came to rest on Yūya's iconic dragon. There was a shower of sparkles, and then a puff of violet smoke that hid both monsters from view. But just as quickly, the thick mist began to swirl, forming the dual-colored vortex so familiar to Masumi:

**"Dragon of dual-colored eyes! Through the magic of one small soul, become the wind that blows at my back, and carries mankind to the future!"**

**"Fusion Summon!"** Yūya chanted. **"Appear now, my _Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon_!"**

 _Vortex Dragon?!_ This was another monster that Masumi had not seen before. She leaned forward, interested, watching the spiky silhouette of Yūya's monster transforming in the clouds of swirling smoke. The bone ridges along its back were splitting along their lengths, dividing in two—even the scarlet armor plates lining its neck looked like they were peeling down the middle—

Then, with a keening roar, _Vortex Dragon_ dispelled the mist and revealed itself for the first time. Indigo sinew glistened and rippled beneath the sleek, emerald-green armor, lined with spiraling edges of silver and gleaming spikes of gold. Four wings unfurled like unsheathed blades as the dragon spread itself out in an attack stance, and within seconds, each one snapped with lightning that raced down every last one of the dragon's golden spines (Level 7: _ATK 2500_ /DEF 3000).

Masumi had only a second to process the point gauge before her eyes caught a sudden movement from Yūya. The You Show ace had clapped his hands to his temples, apparently in discomfort. Perhaps it was a trick of the lightning that wreathed his newest Fusion Monster, but she thought his eyes had changed color very briefly—that for the split second the lightning threw his face into relief, the twin rubies had turned the dark purple of an amethyst.

She looked round at Dennis, but had only to take in his cheering face to know he had not seen the sight she had. The same held true for Ayu, Futoshi, and Tatsuya; they only had eyes for Yūya's monster—and not Yūya himself.

But it didn't matter—as quickly as he'd been affected, Yūya appeared to be himself once again. His cheeks were flushed, but he was grinning more splendidly than ever in his exhilaration—no, Masumi thought, not that.

His breathing was too regular; his composure much too relaxed—and were those tears in his eyes? Yes; she was sure of it now—this wasn't adrenaline talking, not the rush of staring adversity in the face. What she'd just seen reminded her more of Hotene after dismounting from the four-dimensional maze of trampolines that formed her favorite Action Field: it was pure dopamine—a state of absolute euphoria.

For some reason, Summoning _Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon_ had turned Sakaki Yūya into the happiest boy on the planet.

The ace of You Show let the feeling of bliss hang on his face for a very long moment, before he came back down to earth with a loud bump. He stared at the last card in his hand as if he'd just now noticed it was there, and Masumi saw his eyes light up with a spark all too familiar to her: the beginnings of another strategy.

She was proven right moments later. "Next, I Normal Summon _Entermate Trump Witch_ in Attack Position!" Yūya shouted, and a little girl in blonde pigtails and a patchwork witch's costume leapt onto the field with a front handspring (Level 1: _ATK 100_ /DEF 100). "And then, I'll use her effect to Release her"— _Trump Witch_ brandished a crude, skull-and-crossbones staff, twirling it round and round until both her and her weapon had vanished from view—"and add a _very special_ card from my Deck to my hand!

"And with that"—he ejected the single card from his Deck, and slipped it into his waiting fingers—"I end my turn."

Yuzu smirked. "You always did like putting on a one-man show, Yūya," she said as she drew a card to begin her turn. She quirked an eyebrow, apparently not finding the new addition to her liking, but the smile didn't disappear. "But the best performances aren't made by a single person—they're made by a group. Whole troupes and orchestras of people who join their efforts together to make one play—one song—that everyone remembers for the rest of their lives! And because you Summoned your _Vortex Dragon_ in Attack Position, you just made it that much easier for me to take down—and to win this Duel!"

Then, with a suddenness that nearly stopped Masumi's heart, Yuzu _leapt off_ the platform on which she'd been standing, plummeting down what must have been a fifty-foot drop like a lead weight—

—only to gracefully hit the tan, taut canvas of the trampoline underneath feet-first—then propelling herself high into the air, far above even her own platform. Masumi saw something sparkling in her fingers, and she wondered if she'd noticed it down below, since the start of the Duel—

"First—the Action Card: _Extra Onslaught_!" cried Yuzu, slapping the card onto her blade even in the midst of her soaring backflip. "For every monster I Special Summon from the Extra Deck this turn, I can draw a card, and take 500 damage during the End Phase for—

But Yūya was already moving. " _Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon's_ effect!" he shouted. "Once every turn, if another card effect is activated while it's on the field, I can shuffle a face-up Pendulum Monster from my Extra Deck back into my Deck—and then negate and destroy that card! I shuffle my _Entermate Trump Witch_!"

The blue, spherical gem embedded in his dragon's chest began to glow. _Vortex Dragon's_ four wings let fly with a burst of lightning—and Yuzu was blasted backward, her precious Action Card reduced to naught but a few scattered photons. But with an athleticism that would have shamed any acrobat, Yuzu had gone with the movement, twisted in midair—and grabbed the pole of her platform as though she was performing on the uneven bars. Round and round she flipped, slower and more controlled with every revolution, until she came to a stop directly above the platform she'd jumped from just a minute ago. One twist later, and she'd landed in a three-point stance as though she'd never jumped down at all.

"Whoa!" Dennis was running his fingers through his frizzy hair in awe. "What a recovery!"

Ayu nodded enthusiastically in agreement. "I wanna learn how to do that!"

Tatsuya was just as wide-eyed. "I'd like to learn where _she_ learned how to do that … "

So did Masumi. Futoshi's song and dance about his skin shivering all over the place hardly registered; she was too intent on watching Yuzu. Because Tatsuya, whether he knew it or not, was onto something—not once had Masumi ever seen that sort of litheness or vigor in Yuzu in all the times they'd Dueled together, or watched each other Duel. The Fusion user wondered if it could be a side effect of all those other minds that called her brain home—if perhaps on top of more mental attributes like awareness and intelligence, they could pool their physical strength and speed as well. Serena had been a soldier, Yuzu herself had said—and Rin could ride a motorcycle at triple-digit speeds and Duel at the same time, an act that still boggled Masumi's mind even after seeing footage of such Duels for herself. And that wasn't even getting into whatever Ruri and Ray had brought to the table …

"What's the matter, Yūya?" Yuzu taunted him, giggling. "You're not so scared to fight me that you can hardly wait to finish this Duel, are you? Or did Herman stress you out more than you're letting on? Either way, you're slipping up—you didn't have to use your _Vortex Dragon_ on one little Action Card. Because it might work during anyone's turn—but still only _once_ a turn. So you don't have anything left to protect yourself against anything I do next!" She plucked a card from her hand. "Like my Spell Card: _Ostinato_!"

The air began to shimmer with a multicolored haze. Masumi heard a faint ringing in her ears, and was about to wonder if _Vortex Dragon_ had roared loudly enough to damage her hearing. But the more she listened, the more she was convinced that ringing was actually _singing_ —and the louder she thought it was becoming—

"If I activate this card when I control no monsters," Yuzu was saying over the river of music, "I can Fusion Summon 1 _Melodious_ Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck, using 2 monsters from my hand or Deck as Fusion Material! So from my Deck, I'll fuse my _Aria the Melodious Diva_ with my _Elegy the Melodious Diva_!"

Two maidens, each with one harp-shaped wing on their shoulder blades, shimmered either side of Yuzu, their lithe, exotic bodies translucent amidst the mist that wreathed them. Closer and closer they drew to each other—to Yuzu's left, a graceful ballerina with purple hair shorn at the neck; to her right, a green-haired, sad-faced waif who moved with all the deliberation of a ballroom dancer—they were merging into one—

**"Echoing melodious voice! Somber lament of the fallen! With guidance of the baton, gather your power!"**

**"Fusion Summon!"** Yuzu sang. **"Now come here to the stage— _Meisterin Schubert the Melodious Maestra_!"**

The misty air rippled, distorting the scenery—and just as quickly, a swell of music erupted out of thin air, a chorus of strings and voices that tugged at Masumi's heart and caressed her skin. She felt short of breath; a quick look around her showed Dennis and the kids similarly transfixed by the rush of sound.

Then—as if the very music had given birth to it— _Meisterin Schubert_ burst from the shimmering air, her flyaway auburn hair billowing five whole feet in every direction it could from the golden mask that concealed the top half of her blue face. Slowly, she descended to Yuzu's height and hovered there—seemingly buoyed in place by the elaborate costume of copper, red, and black she wore—and brandished a sharpened baton in Yūya's direction with an elegant flourish (Level 6: _ATK 2400_ /DEF 2000).

That was when it happened—Masumi saw Yuzu clutch a hand to her brow, as if she'd bumped it on a low-hanging strut in passing. She'd closed her eyes out of reflex—but a second later, when she'd opened them, there it was: a flash of bright lavender, a spark that danced across her sapphire-blue irises, here and gone in the space of a breath.

In that space, however, Masumi had seen everything; now she was no longer convinced that what had happened to Yūya had been a trick of the light. Something Yaiba had said once trickled into her memory: _once is happenstance … twice is coincidence …_ She frowned. Whatever it was had still happened too fast. She needed to see more.

But the spark soon faded, and once more, Yuzu's eyes were as blue as they'd been from birth. Immediately, her grin softened into a look of utter contentment—as if every cell in her body was being worked over by the expert hands of a masseuse. Masumi wondered if she herself ever looked like that with Yaiba, in the private moments they shared.

"Now I know what you're thinking, Yūya," she grinned. "'Yuzu's monster has 100 less ATK than my _Vortex Dragon_! I'm safe and in the clear!'" She held up two fingers—and the trio of cards sandwiched between them—and winked. "Yeah—no. Remember what I said about the best performances coming from many people, instead of just the one? Well, if I control a _Melodious_ monster, I can Special Summon _Sonata the Melodious Diva_ from my hand because of its effect—and that's exactly what I'm going to do! Just not once—or even twice!"

Masumi's mouth fell open. _Huh?!_

"That's right!" crowed Yuzu. "I'm going to Special Summon _all three Sonatas_ in my Deck to my field!" One—two—three cards were slid across her blade an instant later. Then, one—two—three blue-clad maidens with the same green hair, and the same single wing protruding from their left shoulder, shimmered around _Meisterin Schubert_ in a triangle, their lips brimming with the same hypnotic song (Level 3: _ATK 1200_ /DEF 1000).

 _What are the odds of that?!_ Masumi thought. All three copies of one card in her hand—and monsters that could Special Summon themselves to boot? And that flash of violet she'd seen in Yuzu's eyes … Her brain was beginning to go into overdrive. What was she seeing here? What _wasn't_ she seeing?

And what more was left to see in a Duel that had only just started getting good?

"When _Sonata's_ Special Summoned, her second effect comes into play!" Now it seemed to be Yuzu who was in her element. "While it's on the field, every _Melodious_ monster I control gains 500 ATK and DEF!"

 _Sonata's_ eyes flashed with a sudden burst of blue-green; her sisters mimicked her almost instantly. The song they sang tripled in its intensity, and before a thunderstruck Masumi had finished doing the mental math in her head, their point gauges had skyrocketed to **_2700_** / **2500** —with _Meisterin Schuberta_ standing tall among them at **_3900_** / **3500**.

"Yūya- _onīchan_!" All three kids had leapt to their feet, hands to mouths as the truth sank in. Masumi bit her tongue.

Yuzu's eyes were sparking with the knowledge of imminent victory. "Battle Phase! _Meisterin Schuberta_ , attack _Vortex Dragon_! And just to make sure," she added, sliding a card into her Graveyard slot, "I'll activate my _Score the Melodious Diva_ that I was saving in my hand! By sending it to my Graveyard during damage calculation, any opponent's battling monster has their ATK and DEF become _zero_!"

Something rushed out from behind her at that moment: a teal-haired girl of Yuzu's size and age, resplendent in high-collared robes of lavender and white. It passed, ghostlike, through _Vortex Dragon_ with a mournful wail; one second later, every arc of lightning that had been coursing over the dragon's armor disappeared with a final sizzle.

One second after that, _Meisterin Schubert_ was upon the powerless beast, her bladed baton flicking this way and that over its armored body. The sleek plates that protected the dragon might as well have been _papier-mâché_ for all the good they did; every strike struck home, and in moments the stage beneath them was littered with bits of dissected metal. One final slash from the wand finished it all; _Vortex Dragon_ , drawn and quartered, was scattered into a thousand pieces to the furthest reaches of the Action Field.

Yūya took the full force of the shockwave that followed; he had no time to afford himself a better footing. Before anyone could cry out in horror, he'd been launched off his own platform, his Life Points blown away from their full 4000 to a measly **_100_** —and unlike Yuzu, he didn't have any trampoline under him to break his fall.

But even as Masumi watched, spots of blood on her bitten lip, Yūya wasn't falling straight down, either. In fact, he'd only had to twist his frame a little bit to ensure that one of the enormous balls that floated around the Field was the only thing between him and the ground underneath—

It was rubbery, and did enough to cushion his fall. But Masumi heard the loud grunt from the impact. Something like that must have knocked all the wind out of Yūya; if Masumi had been in his place, her spine would be howling in pain from the bruises an impact like that would have caused. Even then, they were still the least of his worries; he'd survived one attack—but there was absolutely nothing he could do against three more.

Yuzu knew it, too. "Let's end this Duel on a high note, girls!" she smirked at her _Sonata_ triplets. " _Attack Sakaki Yūya directly!_ "

Their single wings flared, and the _Divas_ went to work with a will. Sound waves bloomed from their lips in perfect three-part harmony, racing for Yūya—

But the boy had summoned a hidden burst of strength from God only knew where; he somersaulted backwards off the ball he'd been laying on, and the trio of attacks blew it apart not one second later. A smaller sphere was under him to catch his weight, but only just—Yūya, perhaps aware of this, leapt for solid ground right as more sonic blasts from the _Divas_ obliterated that, too.

He was under his own platform now, racing along the edge of the stage, rose-red eyes scanning every surface he could. But Yuzu had cottoned on to his evasive tactics, now; with one stab of her finger she'd directed one of her _Sonatas_ to reduce the stage right in front of Yūya to splintered wood and shredded cloth. Another gesture collapsed a balance beam behind him with a single long _mezzo-soprano_ , trapping him—

Masumi squinted. Something had sparkled near Yūya's left hand, blown into the air from the multiple explosions. Yūya had seen it too—he twisted in the air as the third _Sonata_ was inhaling, ready to unleash the _coup de grace_ —

"Action Magic: _Great Escape_!" he managed to gasp out. "If I play this card, the Battle Phase automatically ends!"

The _Sonata_ closed her mouth as though it had just been wired shut. Yuzu looked as though she'd just been whacked in the face by her own _harisen_. Tatsuya and Dennis were seen to wipe their brows in relief at the near miss.

But Yuzu didn't let her shock last for long, sliding her last card into her Duel Disk. "One card face-down—and then, I'll activate my _Ostinato's_ second effect," she explained with a look at her _Meisterin Schubert_ , whose body was beginning to glow and vibrate where she stood. "Any Fusion Monster it's used to Summon is destroyed during the End Phase—but in its place," she smirked, "if both that monster's Fusion Materials are still in my Graveyard, I can Special Summon them both to my field right now! So! _Aria_ — _Elegy_ —it's time for an encore! Be reborn!"

She threw out her hand right as _Meisterin Schubert's_ still-shivering body disappeared into the same cloud of mist that had given it birth. The colorful fog dispersed, thinned to nothingness—and in its place stood the same two monsters Masumi had briefly seen before, holding hands: the flighty _Aria_ (Level 4: _ATK 1600 » **3100**_ /DEF 1200 » 2700), and the melancholy, queenly _Elegy_ (Level 5: _ATK 2000 » **3500**_ /DEF 1200 » **2700** ).

" _Aria_ and _Elegy_ both have effects that activate when they're Special Summoned," said Yuzu, sweeping a hand from one monster to the other. All five of her monsters had arranged themselves into a star pattern, hovering in a circle around her and crooning a low, wordless _adagio_. "As long as my _Aria's_ on the field, my _Melodious_ monsters can't be destroyed by battle, or be targeted by card effects! And as for my _Elegy_ , she makes all my Special Summoned _Melodious_ monsters indestructible by card effects—and gives them an extra 300 ATK the moment she's Special Summoned herself!"

Masumi was flabbergasted. Those two monsters had made Yuzu's field as good as invincible. On top of being incredibly strong thanks to her _Sonatas_ —she watched _Aria's_ ATK gauge climb to **_3400_** , _Elegy's_ to **_3800_** , and the _Sonatas_ themselves, the weakest links on that field, to an even **_3000_** —there were very few card effects in the game that could remove monsters from the field without targeting them or destroying them. That wasn't even getting into Yūya's situation—while he'd pulled off the sort of stunning reversals only he could, the fact remained that he still had only one card in his hand. He could still use his Pendulum Scales to re-Summon his field, and his _Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon_ with it, but it simply wasn't strong enough to break through even the weakest of Yuzu's _Divas_. In fact, there was only monster she could think of that could hope to break this insurmountable field—and the Duelist who used it was on the other side of town, far too late to come to Yūya's rescue even if he wanted to.

To the best of her knowledge, Yūya was—to borrow a crude phrase from Yaiba—completely boned.

That still didn't stop Tatsuya and Futoshi from shouting encouragement to their " _onīchan_ ", though. "Come on, Yūya—you got this! We believe in you!" "Shiver those girls right off the stage!"

Ayu, however, was faintly smiling, and reclined in her seat in satisfaction. Masumi knew how much she idolized Yuzu, and wouldn't have been shocked if she'd been rooting for her from the get-go. Dennis looked faintly cautious; every so often, Masumi caught him stealing glimpses at Yūya, perhaps thinking he'd pull another proverbial rabbit out of the hat—only to look back at Yuzu, take one look at her monsters, and shake his head.

And Herman … Masumi felt her teeth grazing at her tongue again. The German didn't look as though he'd moved a muscle ever since the Duel had started. One hand still clutched the briefcase at his feet, but the other clasped his chin in an expression of very deep thought. His deep blue eyes hadn't wavered from the Duel for an instant.

It was enough for the Fusion Duelist to wonder if he'd been seeing the same strange things she had.

* * *

She turned her attention back to the Duel right as Yūya drew his card in a grand flourish. "My— _TURN_!"

This time, she saw it: Yūya had turned to look at the card—and instantly his eyes had flashed a bright purple. Masumi felt her body tense up. If once was merely happenstance, and twice was coincidence …

 _Three times_ , Yaiba had told her once, _is a conspiracy_.

She'd sidled over to Dennis almost without her awareness of it. "Did you see that?" she whispered, so as not to be overheard by the three kids behind them.

Dennis blinked. "See what?"

"Yūya's eyes," Masumi explained. "They just sort of … went _flashy_ just now."

The American was silent for a long moment. Then he smiled. "Oh, they did that all the time way back when," he said. "I probably wouldn't mention it to him, though. He'd find it embarrassing."

Masumi took "way back when" to mean back when Z-ARC had still inhabited Yūya's body. And if she'd been in his shoes, "embarrassing" would have been the last word she'd chosen to describe those days. "But … Z-ARC is gone," she said to Dennis. "Yūya said so himself—he ceased to exist. Went _poof_."

She leaned in close. " _So why would his eyes still be doing that?_ "

Dennis had no reply. Not that he would have had the time, because—

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!"

Instantly, Dennis and Masumi had leaned forward in their seats. Both of them had heard Yūya's iconic preamble enough times to know when to expect a treat.

"Sorry for keeping you all on the edges of your seats for so long!" The You Show ace was waving to the spectators, grinning like his Life Points weren't teetering on a knife's edge. "But you know me—I can never resist a good song and dance. Give a special shout-out to my lovely assistant and her girls! Such lovely, lovely voices they all have."

He tipped a broad wink to Yuzu, who was seen to mouth the words "lovely assistant" in disbelief; her cheeks went more scarlet with every syllable he spoke. She huffed, and turned away with her nose in the air—but Masumi had seen the grudging smile an instant before, and knew she had to be thinking the same thing about Yūya:

 _Never change, knucklehead_.

"That's all for Act Two, folks—and now it's on to the finale! And I'll kick it off with a **_PENDULUM SUMMON_**!" He threw out a hand. "From my Extra Deck, I re-Summon my _Entermate Trump Girl_ and my _Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon_ —and from my hand," he added, plucking the card he'd just drawn and slamming it onto his Duel Disk, "let's hear a round of applause for my latest and greatest of wizards— _Purple Poison Magician_!"

From the shimmering portal that had blossomed over his head, three bolts of energy whirled onto the field. Two were quickly recognizable as the cartoonish _Trump Girl_ (Level 2: _ATK 200_ /DEF 200) and the spiky bulk of _Pendulum Dragon_ (Level 7: _ATK 2500_ /DEF 2000). On the other side of _Pendulum Dragon_ , however, emerged yet another monster that Masumi had never seen before until this Duel: a pale-faced human wearing an earthen-colored smock over his purple suit of armor (Level 4: ATK 1200/ _DEF 2100_ ). Multiple scarlet orbs had been sewn into the clothing—one of them even tipped the thickly lashed whip that he held in his hand—but most of all, something about his smile gave Masumi goosebumps in ways that had nothing to do with Yūya's ability to put on a show.

"Don't let the name fool you, now," Yūya winked. "He's actually really good with kids. And to prove it, I'll activate my _Trump Girl's_ effect again—only this time, I'll use her as a Fusion Material with my _Purple Magician_!"

The little girl waved her wand with a giggle, pointing it right at the _Magician_. Instantly, several things happened: _Trump Girl_ began to fade from view—the last thing that could be seen of her was her toothy grin—but the real spectacle was coming from _Purple Poison Magician_. For the monster had no sooner placed his whip in a pocket than he'd dropped to all fours: his black gloves were turning into vicious-looking claws, his limbs were contorting, expanding threefold; the clothing was becoming tighter and tighter until it was nothing more than a second skin, and the plates of armor on his shoulders were shifting, grinding, almost _gnashing_ —

**"And now—through the magic of one small soul, and the elixir of life and death, point to a new path!"**

**" _Fusion Summon!_ "** Yūya proclaimed. **"Appear! _Starve Venom Fusion Dragon_!"**

Masumi felt her breath catch in her lungs as the transformation completed itself. The dragon that had taken _Purple Magician's_ place (Level 8: _ATK 2800_ /DEF 2000) was the least likely monster an entertainer like Sakaki Yūya would have in his Deck. His whip had become a flexible tail, and his robe had become scales, flesh … and more ripping fangs than Masumi had ever wanted to see in five different mouths—four of which had no business being on any creature, let alone a dragon.

But the jaws that protruded from the hips and shoulders of _Starve Venom Fusion Dragon_ mercifully remained shut, for which Masumi was grateful. She had heard of its devastating abilities, of how its original owner had savaged every Duelist he'd ever faced—and was grateful that Yūya had chosen not to use them.

Or, perhaps more accurately, he _couldn't_ use them. Not to win, at least. Because even though _Starve Venom's_ ATK-gaining effect didn't target, the abilities that allowed it to copy another monster's effect did. And even the ATK _Starve Venom_ gained wouldn't be enough to defeat Yuzu this turn; the highest ATK on her field was that of _Elegy_. In any other Duel, 6600 ATK would be astronomical. But here, it just wouldn't be enough for a one-turn—

**_"More."_ **

The Fusion Duelist felt as though the bottom had just dropped out of her stomach. The single word she'd just heard—growled in savage, feral pleasure—was all the more unbelievable, because she'd never once imagined that tone of voice coming from Sakaki Yūya.

Which seemed an appropriate assumption to make, because Masumi only needed one look to know that the Duelist standing behind _Starve Venom_ was _not_ Sakaki Yūya.

It had his hair, and his clothes. But the hair was wild and unkempt; his jacket tossed and turned as if he'd stepped inside a tornado. And the face … the smile was _wrong_. The perfect teeth, the winning grin, were bared in a sneer up at Yuzu, who had backed against the pole supporting her platform as though Yūya had suddenly gone rabid. And if Masumi didn't know better, that might well have been the case.

Except Yūya's eyes—from the whites to the pupils and the ruby-red irises—were now fully and unequivocally glowing the same, venomous-looking purple she'd seen three times already.

Masumi tried to suppress a gulp, failed. That settled it, she thought. _Something is very wrong_.

Dennis seemed to think so, too. He'd not taken his eyes off Yūya since _Starve Venom_ had been Summoned. "He's in control," he said, in what he must have hoped was a reassuring tone. She wasn't reassured in the slightest.

Neither were the kids. Ayu and Tatsuya were clinging fearfully to Futoshi, who was shivering so violently that he appeared to be vibrating in place—and his friends with him.

"Finally," Yūya growled, his now-fully violet eyes glinting, "we activate the Spell Card: _Fusion_! With this, we fuse the _Starve Venom_ and the _Pendulum Dragon_ on our field for a Fusion Summon!"

 _Uh-oh. He's using first-person plural._ Masumi bit her lip. She'd never heard Yūya do that personally, but she had vivid memories of someone who had. That someone had come very close to killing four of her friends—including Yaiba—and might well have succeeded had he not underestimated their perseverance.

So to hear this change in tense once more had instantly set her on edge. "He's done that before, too … right?" she asked Dennis. The American shook his head, still mesmerized by the change in the mood of the Duel.

Yūya's two dragons, meanwhile, were nowhere to be seen. The hurricane of color that had erupted out of nowhere above them had already sucked them into its depths, their last earthly remnants being the roars of triumph that echoed in the arena:

**"Dragon with dual-colored eyes! Become one with the poisonous dragon. Be the power that leads to supremacy!"**

**"FUSION SUMMON!"** bellowed Yūya. **"Appear! Level 10! Dragon with gem-like eyes of kindness! _Supreme King Violet Dragon – Odd-Eyes Venom Dragon_!"**

Spidery limbs emerged from the vortex, one at a time, their foot-long violet claws gauging long furrows in the stage that supported them. A purple, hooked tail lashed outwards, destroying the empty section of bleachers behind it. Two wings, curving upwards with the grace of freshly fallen leaves, unfolded into many scimitar-like blades of pure white that sang in the sudden rush of wind, reached twenty feet and more into the air—and only then did the pincer-tipped, many-eyed head finally emerge with a bone-chilling, yowling roar (Level 10: _ATK 3300_ /DEF 2500).

Masumi was glad she was already sitting down; the mere sight of this monster made her legs feel like rubber. The Fusion Pendulum Monster—only one of two she had ever seen in her entire lifetime, and would likely ever see for as long as she lived—outclassed even her best _Gem-Knights_ by whole orders of magnitude. The right hand and field might be able to give her a _Master Dia_ that was even stronger, but it wasn't just sheer strength that made Masumi feel so terrified of this monster. The look and feel of any Duel Monster—the psychological thrill of base _fear_ —could accomplish more than even the highest ATK score or the most devastating of effects—

A scream from Ayu shattered her train of thought. The little girl was pointing at Yūya with a trembling finger. Her face was livid with fright.

The Fusion Duelist followed the finger … and felt her jaw drop. _What in the actual hell?!_

Yūya's eyes were still glowing, and his hair was still whipping about every which way. The intensity and the color, however, had changed. His right eye was still glowing as violet as ever—but his left eye was now a vivid teal green. Masumi, however, only had eyes for what was now on Yūya's forehead: a pair of crimson chevrons, just above his eyebrows—and between them, a single vertical slit of burning scarlet, almost like a third eye was trying to open—

She heard Dennis gulp. The American spoke two words that made her gulp just as loudly: " … That's new."

The Fusion Duelist was just about to ask why Dennis was acting so flippantly in the face of extreme danger—of how he could possibly take a complete personality change within one of his best friends so in stride—

_… Wait._

The gears in her brain began to turn. Years of experience had given Masumi the feeling of carving a gemstone, of visualizing the entire process from the rough rock to be ground out, sanded away, lapped at, and finally polished until she was left with the sparkling jewel that her mind's eye had envisioned from the beginning.

 _Grind_.

Yūya, she already knew, had different personalities, and the early days of them learning to coexist with one another had been … decidedly unsettling. But after Academia had fallen, and their progenitor Z-ARC had been erased, they had learned to work in harmony with one another during a Duel. The same, she presumed, held true for Yuzu—and yet both of them had departed from their original happy selves over the course of this Duel. Yuzu had shown a penchant for destruction in trying to take out Yūya's last hundred Life Points, and Yūya himself was …

 _Sand_.

She took a closer look at Yūya's glowing, multicolored eyes. Yes, she was sure of it now; those weren't any typical shades of purple and green—it was _Fusion_ purple … and _Pendulum_ green.

 _Lap_.

Events replayed in her head. Yūya had Summoned a new Fusion Monster, _Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon_ ; that had been the first time she'd thought his eyes had changed color. Yuzu had done the same thing with her _Meisterin Schubert_ just one turn later. And finally, Yūya had Fusion Summoned _Starve Venom Fusion Dragon_ , which she had been told was the ace monster of his Fusion Dimension counterpart, Yūri … and had gone further still with his _Odd-Eyes Venom Dragon_ …

 _Polish_.

Four Fusion Monsters, Masumi had counted over the course of this Duel, each more powerful than the last one. Four changes in eye color, each more extreme than the last. A complete change in mood in both combatants—from pale and drained to happy-go-lucky; from utter bliss to practically salivating at the thought of victory at any cost, no matter how much destruction it caused. And all of it had seemed to happen after—

…

 _Et voilà_.

…

 _After they'd been interviewed_.

Slowly, as if bracing for a massive shock, Masumi's eyes turned towards Herman von Stadion, wondering for the first time just what had happened after he'd gone off alone with Yūya and Yuzu.

Because now she was convinced something more was happening here—and that somehow, this German strongman, for all his pomp and bluster, knew something about it. His eyes had a look to them she'd never seen in him before; a spark was dancing deep within that lapis-lazuli gaze.

 _"Wunderschönen … "_ Masumi didn't need to know any German to guess what that word might mean. Herman's eyes told her everything; he wasn't scared—he wasn't even excited. It was a look of pure, calculated satisfaction.

 _He'd wanted this to happen_.

Masumi stood up, ignoring the numbness in her legs. Something dangerous was going on here, and she needed answers before someone got hurt … or worse.

She had to stop this Duel.

* * *

But Yūya no longer seemed content to wait. He'd leapt from his platform as if he'd grown wings, soaring far too high, and landing far too lightly on top of his _Venom Dragon_ , for his movements to be human.

He'd then turned his tri-chromatic gaze downward for a brief moment, like he'd just seen something on the floor far below—and then kicked at his steed's collarbone. At once, violet flames erupted beneath the scimitar-like growths of the dragon's wings, and monster and rider now sped towards one corner of the stage in a blur of color and sound.

Moments later: "Action Magic: _Pendulum Boost_!" Yūya's hiss of a voice sounded more appropriate for the dragon he'd mounted than for the ace student of the You Show Duel School. "With this card, I can destroy every monster in my Pendulum Zones, and have 1 monster I control gain 100 ATK times their combined Levels! By destroying my Level 7 _Dragonpit_ and my Level 4 _Dragonpulse_ "—both magicians, still hovering high above the Dueling field, disintegrated into a million shards of hard-light—"my _Odd-Eyes Venom Dragon_ therefore gains 1100 ATK!"

The amethyst-colored inferno that _Venom Dragon_ had been using to maneuver about the field now washed over its own body, and it roared its horrid, keening shriek again as its ATK gauge rose to 4400—

"And then," growled Yūya, "for each Pendulum Scale I destroyed, my _Venom Dragon_ will gain 1 additional attack this turn! Which means exactly what you think—this Duel's _OVER_!

"BATTLE PHASE!" he roared. " _Odd-Eyes Venom Dragon_ , attack all three _Sonatas_ at once!"

With one flap of its flaming wings, _Venom Dragon_ hurtled into the far reaches of the tent, shrinking until it was little more than a solitary, violet star. Masumi, turning back towards the Duel, caught the animal snarl of triumph on Yūya's smile—

 _WHAM_.

 _Venom Dragon's_ attack bathed Yuzu and her monsters in flames. _Aria_ and _Elegy_ had leapt out of the blast radius in time, but none of the three _Sonatas_ had a prayer. Yūya had deliberately targeted them, Masumi knew, because while they could not be destroyed by battle, _Yuzu would still take the damage_ —1400 points of it a pop, even before taking the loss of each of their ATK-increasing effects into account.

Which meant that the girl was blasted right off her platform, careening into a section of bleachers that collapsed from the force of the attack. Masumi just barely heard the shriek of her Duel Disk that meant her Life Points had just reached zero.

Yūya, however, had no time to savor his victory. Scarcely had the smoke cleared when the blazing glow in his eyes faded, leaving them as ruby-red as they'd always been. The eye on his forehead—if it had been an eye at all—had disappeared as well.

A second later, Yūya's eyes rolled upwards, and he toppled to his platform, spark out.

* * *

There being no further use for it, _Athletic Circus_ disappeared from the arena. Moments later, Hīragi Shūzō had sprinted out of the control room and straight for his daughter. Yuzu was supine, completely still, and looked as though she'd just lost consciousness herself.

Dennis was uncharacteristically silent. Ayu, Futoshi, and Tatsuya were dividing their gazes between the boy and girl they worshipped like superheroes. None of them dared speak owing to their own fear, and Masumi took advantage of the lull in silence to cross the distance between her and Herman von Stadion in a matter of seconds.

The German had just finished latching his briefcase shut, and was moving to stand when Masumi's shadow fell across his chest. The Fusion Duelist's face was pure thunder.

"Out with it," she snarled through clenched teeth, low enough that the kids wouldn't hear. "What did you do to them?"

Herman sighed, and drew himself to his full height. "It would appear," he said, "that I vastly underestimated the stress I placed upon them by coming here today."

Masumi narrowed her eyes. "I was watching you the whole Duel," she whispered as malevolently as her voice would let her. It was a lie, but she'd seen enough to feel comfortable with taking the chance that Herman didn't know. "You had every chance to stop the Duel at the first sign of trouble. _You never did_. I want to know _why_."

Herman had actually backed away a step, which surprised Masumi—but not to the extent that she'd forgotten why.

Then a new sound reached her ears, one that really did make her forget about what had happened for a split second. It was coming from somewhere outside: a low-pitched, discordant klaxon, slowly but steadily rising, then falling in pitch. She had been through enough exercises in school to know what that noise was.

"Masumi—" She whirled around at Ayu. The little girl was chalk-white. "That's the air-raid siren!"

That was when the school intercom clicked to life. But the fatherly voice of Hīragi Shūzō did not echo from the speakers; instead, there was a cool female voice wholly at odds with the message she was delivering.

_"All students and staff, proceed along evacuation routes in a calm and orderly fashion towards your designated shelters. All response teams please report immediately to your assigned command station. **This is not a drill.** "_

The Fusion Duelist's heart had leapt into her throat. "We're under attack?!" Her mind had suddenly turned to mush. "From who—what?"

She heard a string of whispered German. Herman was crossing himself; he had gone completely rigid. The reason why was soon clear; Dennis had switched on his Duel Disk, apparently hoping to find out who was attacking them.

The American's face looked the color of badly mixed porridge. He was shaking his head. "That's impossible … "

* * *

_Leo Duel School_

Akaba Himika had stood up from her chair the moment she'd heard the sirens. The window of her office overlooked a large chunk of Maiami City—which meant that the headmistress of LDS knew precisely why those sirens were going off before the evacuation order had already begun.

She stared at the street below, and the enormous construction of metal that had appeared in the crossroads directly in front of her school, quite out of nowhere. Heavily armored shoulders, pectorals and gauntlets, navy blue and styled like snarling hounds, dripped flames from their jaws. Massive cogs churned within its innards. A single mechanical eye burned within its tiny head, shining like a laser this way and that.

Her eyes were already traveling throughout the city. Within seconds she saw another one several blocks away. Then two on the same street … three in one neighborhood, no, four … _five_ …

Himika felt her heart pounding. Only in the corner of her eye did she notice the stately, elderly woman who presided over the Endymion Duel School walk up to her, her face etched with fear. Manicured nails, freshly painted, had clapped against her mouth.

"Himika?" She heard an audible swallow. "What _is_ that?"

She answered her counterpart truthfully—she had heard too many of Reiji's reports to do otherwise. But it offered no explanation for why it was here … to say nothing of who had sent it here … and the many questions they begged.

Chaos Giants, Himika repeated in her head. _They're all_ Antique Gear Chaos Giants _…_


	4. III

III

The speed with which Herman had taken charge of the situation was unbelievable. Masumi had almost toppled off her perch on the bleachers when he'd suddenly jumped to his feet; all of a sudden, the huge man was barking out instructions to everyone in the room, and at such a volume that the ongoing sirens outside were all but drowned out.

" _Mein kinder_ ," he said to Ayu, Futoshi, and Tatsuya, all equally terrified, "go to your principal at once! He will get you to safety—so do not let him out of your sight! Go! _Schnell!_ Shūzō"—he'd whirled on You Show's principal, still crouched over his motionless daughter—"Dennis and I will take care of Yūya and Yuzu. Please make sure the rest of your students are safe and accounted for."

Shūzō suppressed a gulp, and took one look at Yuzu, before he finally nodded. He ushered the three kids close to him, and they quickly disappeared through the door without another look back.

"Dennis, take Yuzu; I shall take Yūya," Herman said to his former student. He hurtled onto the Dueling field with a speed that belied his age; Masumi was quickly reminded of a rampaging rhino as he sped for Yūya. "Do not permit them to see you for even a second. Do not follow me out of the school—but keep within sight of me as best as you can—we will reconvene someplace where they will not be found."

He stared at Yūya before effortlessly hoisting the unconscious boy over his shoulder. Dennis grimaced with exertion as he dragged Yuzu into a standing position, draping her over his shoulders like a particularly heavy cloak.

Masumi, meanwhile, had finally found her voice. "Now just wait a minute!" she cried at Herman. "What the _hell_ is going on here?! What were those big robots I saw in the city?! And why are Yūya and Yuzu so important right now that you're taking them yourselves?!"

The German shook his head. "There is little time to explain more, _Fräulein_. Those robots are Duel Monsters—they are called _Antique Gear Chaos Giants_ , and they are notorious for being the monsters used by soldiers of Academia when they invaded a target city—"

The Fusion Duelist's mouth fell open. "Academia?!" For a long moment the powers of speech eluded her. "But that doesn't make sense! That place doesn't exist! It was shut down after Z-ARC was erased—everything inside the place was liquidated, every student transferred! How can they be invading us? _Why_ would they invade us?!"

"I cannot say," Herman said, turning for the door and motioning for Dennis to follow; he fell in step with some difficulty, owing to his smaller frame and the mass of Yuzu still weighing him down. "But I am suspecting they may be hunting for both of these children."

Masumi blinked. "You mean—Yūya and—"

" _Ja_. As to how and why, it is possible that some of their command structures did not dissolve as quickly as others did. It may be that these _Chaos Giants_ were Summoned by soldiers who are still loyal to their cause—"

He broke off, looking somewhere above him. The ground was beginning to shake—like something big and heavy was walking past the school. Masumi heard the hissing whine of pneumatics, the metal-against-metal groan of churning gears.

"We cannot stay here." Herman was talking very fast now. "We must wait to speculate until the city is safe. Dennis has told me you have Dueled against the forces of Academia before?"

Masumi nodded. "Not against these _Antique Gears_ or _Chaos Giants_ , though," she admitted. Her throat felt tight.

"Don't use Action Cards against them," Dennis told her. "They have effects that keep their enemies from activating Spells and Traps during the Battle Phase. And the _Chaos Giants_ are even nastier—Spells and Traps have no effect against them, period—and they can attack every enemy at once with piercing damage!"

The Fusion user had a mental image of a huge mechanical arm swiping wide at everything within reach, leveling whole buildings and reducing streets to impassable rubble. " … How am I supposed to fight something like that?"

"If you're lucky, you won't have to." Dennis put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and smiled; Masumi was so rattled by how upside-down things had become that she didn't even object. "There's still the Lancers. They can take down _Chaos Giants_ like they're nothing. But you've got your own team to lead, right, Masumi?"

She nodded—and then horror seized at her throat. "Yaiba!" she choked out. "I have to make sure he's okay!"

But a second later, her heart sank: she'd fished out her Duel Disk and switched it on—only to be greeted with the same **NO SERVICE** message that had graced its screen ever since she'd entered You Show.

Dennis swore—an uncharacteristic moment from the lighthearted American. "I should have known something was wrong from the start," he muttered as he stared at the message. "Of course they'd jam communications right before an assault—it was standard procedure—"

He stood, renewed strength flowing through his body; Masumi saw he no longer appeared encumbered by the limp form of Yuzu. "If you know where Yaiba went, you need to go straight to him _now_ ," Dennis said urgently. "If you're lucky, those two girls he went to pick up are with him, too. You'll be safe as long as you're together."

Masumi gulped. "What about Hokuto and Fuyu?" The Xyz Duelists had fought alongside each other for longer than she'd known either of them. So she knew they'd put up a fight—but would that fight be enough?

Dennis, apparently, did not know either. But he did his best to make his disheartened expression disappear. "You'll find a way," he smiled. "If half the stories I've heard about you are true, those soldiers are going to wish they'd stayed in bed before you're through with them."

Something rumbled ominously outside just then. Herman laid a huge hand on Dennis' shoulder. "We must hurry—we can no longer delay!" he grunted. "Find a side exit—and be ready for a fight at a moment's notice! Go!"

Dennis nodded, and secured a Duel Disk to his arm—a darker blue in color than Masumi's own. She took the hint, and mimicked his movements. The _click_ of the straps against her forearm was as good as a full suit of plate armor.

"Good luck out there," Dennis said to her. But she had no time to reply back; Dennis and Herman had sprinted out of the arena in opposite directions, each with their charges in tow.

The Fusion Duelist stood there for only a moment, doing her best to gather her thoughts and prepare for a fight. So used was she to fighting enemies that worked in the shadows, away from the public eye, that the notion of battling a veritable army of soldiers felt alien. The irony of being caught off guard by a force that did not need to rely on such things as subterfuge did not escape her.

Then, quite suddenly, she was sprinting out of the arena, then out of the school and into a city in chaos—hoping against hope that she'd be able to find Yaiba in time.

* * *

_Leo Duel School_

Bedlam reigned in Himika's office. The LDS headmistress had hastily organized an emergency conference call with various LeoCorp technicians. The Endymion Duel School's principal had fled to a shelter, their negotiations long since forgotten. With normal satellite communications now known to be jammed, they'd been forced to use the landlines in the building. And the news they delivered was growing more disheartening by the second.

"Our runners count fifteen _Chaos Giants_ , Himika- _san_!"

"Fusion energy readings pegged the dial in milliseconds—the sensors are overloaded!"

"We were able to read five in the commercial sector—localized to sector CM-37! Multiple stampedes reported!"

"Another four in the airport—air traffic control confirms heavy casualties—"

"Five more in the residential districts—three in sector AV-96; another two in sector TR-14!"

Which meant the one she'd seen outside her office, Himika thought, was all by itself. Perhaps it was the leader, and was counting on its companion monsters to distract Maiami City's defenses from whatever its mission was.

"I want dispersal fields up and running in every affected sector _yesterday_ ," she ordered. "Invert their harmonics and contain those _Chaos Giants_ —we have to keep them from destroying as much of the city as possible!"

Himika had used dispersal fields to great effect in the _Infernoid_ incident earlier in the year. These unique barriers of hard light could disrupt foreign Solid Vision constructs—such as enemy Duel Monsters—to the point that, at maximum strength, they could be prevented from forming within its perimeter. By simply modifying those fields to project an inverted wavelength, the effect was effectively reversed: Solid Vision could be formed inside the field's boundary, but even one photon _outside_ of it would cease to be in a heartbeat. Once inside, they wouldn't get out.

But that still left the question of how they'd gotten _in_ to begin with.

"Was there evidence of any dimensional transmission?" she asked.

"I'm afraid so, ma'am," said one of the technicians on the line. "We think they brute-forced access into one of the Interdimensional Corridors. Probably inserted a backdoor into the linkup that connects the fragments of the ARC-V reactor. If that's true," he said darkly, "they can use them just as easily as we can now."

"Now we know why Yūshō wanted them shut down," Himika remarked to Nakajima. The You Show founder hadn't lingered around LDS after giving his warning and making sure Himika had obeyed him; her aide had seen him speed off for the nearest elevator—most likely, they agreed, to make sure his son was safe.

She began to issue more orders. "Post guard patrols at every access point on every floor of LeoCorp," she said to Nakajima. "Cut power to the elevators and all high-security terminals in the building—"

"Himika- _san_ —we have a new problem!" cried another technician. "These invaders are deploying multiple reserve forces alongside their Duel Monsters! They don't appear to be using any of their own—but that means they can operate outside of our dispersal fields and spread elsewhere in the city!"

Even Nakajima flinched at the curse that erupted from his boss' mouth. "They're a damn sight more organized than the last bunch that tried invading us," Himika huffed a few moments later, still very red in the face.

"They're splitting their forces almost as soon as we contain them," her aide agreed. "They hit our communications first to cause confusion, touched down in our population centers for maximum casualties. These aren't just some hotshots with the Obelisk Force, Himika- _san_. These are _professionals_. Military—maybe even private security … "

He set his jaw. "That kind of cooperation is _months_ in the planning," he muttered. "Maybe even years."

 _Before Academia even landed on our radar_ , thought Himika—and almost certainly before Z-ARC had been stopped. That changed things immensely; they could no longer approach this with the same tactics as before.

But that didn't mean those tactics couldn't still be used again. First, however: "I want every single Duelist enrolled in our school to assist the police in evacuations," she said. "If these bastards want maximum casualties, they'll have to fight for it. Get me a secure line to Mayor Sawatari and the Minister of Defense. We may need the Self-Defense Forces to step in if they fall. As ex-JSDF, you'll be acting as my liaison to the Minister, Nakajima."

"Understood. But that still leaves those _Chaos Giants_ ," he pointed out. "Do you think the Lancers will be enough to break through those monsters? We know what they're capable of from their former agents—should we not try to put some more of our forces on standby to assist them?"

"You're damned right they'll be enough," Himika said angrily. "And if they're smart, they'll be moving to engage them right now. Those _Chaos Giants_ are top priority. If we can take them out by challenging their controllers to enough Duels, we can disrupt the Fusion energy they're generating from their Duel Disks' holographic emitters—and maybe get our communications back to where we can start organizing a defense!"

"And the LID?"

Himika pursed her lips, thinking. "Keep them on standby," she decided. "They can operate at their own discretion until we need to call them up." _Until we can call them up at all_ , she amended in her head. Masumi and her group of Duelists had proved several times over that they had the intelligence and capacity to act without official orders. Perhaps they might even be able to track down the leading figures of this assault, and engage them to destabilize the enemy's command structure. But that would still require enough communications that—

"New contact at the airport!" a technician yelled over the phone. "Confirmed dimensional rift!"

Himika cursed. "More soldiers?" _Please, no more_ Chaos Giants _…_

"I don't think so, ma'am—this one looks different. It's too high up for infantry … too small for a _Chaos Giant_ … "

He trailed off—and then, without warning, broke out into laughter. "Hot damn!" he whooped. "It's—"

Exactly who it was, Himika didn't hear. Not that she needed to. The harsh, keening cry that had drowned out the man on the other end of the line was instantly recognizable to anyone who'd ever seen a _Raid Raptors_ monster.

* * *

_Maiami International Airport_

The wreckage of planes littered the tarmac—mere silhouettes lost in the oily flames that poured into the air. Most had not been occupied; the few that were had either been able to lift off in time or had evacuated their passengers to safety. But the heat of the flames was incredible; Kurosaki Shun, even from high above as the Duel Monster beneath him hovered on a thermal, could feel his face crisping from the onslaught within seconds of his arrival.

He considered himself lucky he'd arrived when he did. When the Resistance had witnessed the attack in Heartland City, Tenjō Kaito had volunteered to lead the counterattack himself. Shun had been with him at the time, and had protested profusely, saying that they needed every fighter they could get to deal with this unforeseen threat. But when Heartland Tower had been destroyed, thanks to the attack of some unseen, unfathomably powerful monster, Kaito had paled completely and practically shoved his fellow Xyz Duelist into a portal to Standard, ordering— _ordering!_ —Shun to warn as many people in Maiami City as possible that the Xyz Dimension was under attack.

But either something had gone wrong when he'd crossed the Dimensions, or this attack had been vastly more coordinated than Kaito had been led to believe. For Shun hadn't even gulped in his first breath of the Pendulum Dimension before seeing no less than four _Antique Gear Chaos Giants_ on the ground below him and his _Rise Falcon_ , attacking the airport and every single plane docked there.

He'd barely even given it a second thought—Shun's reaction to seeing any monster of Academia had long since been ingrained into his subconscious. His Duel Disk had been running hot even before he'd crossed over; the sky-blue blade shimmered along his arm as brightly as the hottest stars of the universe.

One push of a button was all he needed. "Duel Mode on," the device announced. "Battle Royale standby."

And then, he'd inflated his lungs to his fullest. "HEY!" His bellow nearly drowned out the roaring flames under him. "UP HERE, YOU BASTARDS!"

That got their attention. Shun saw the holograms of the _Chaos Giants_ shimmer briefly, then turn in his direction.

And he bared his teeth in a vicious snarl. **_"DUEL!"_**

* * *

"I've got a signal!"

One of the technicians on the conference call cheered. Himika just barely restrained herself from doing the same thing once she'd taken a look at her mobile, and seen the telltale bars in one corner.

She'd been correct in assuming that the Fusion energy produced by the _Chaos Giants_ had overloaded the comm. grids with the sheer amount of it. When Kurosaki had initiated his challenge, the monsters had instantly disappeared when their controllers' Duel Disks had been forced into Duel mode—and so had the energy signatures.

But Himika also knew that the soldiers wouldn't waste time in Summoning those mechanical behemoths as quickly as possible—she had a very short window of time to act. And so she'd turned her fingers into ten different blurs as she keyed in a code on her computer. Seconds later, she watched a sphere of hard light blooming around the _Chaos Giant_ below her, transforming the cracked street beneath its legs into a grassy veldt, and the curbs and façades of the buildings that lined it into so much greenery that the whole crossroads was now a veritable micro-jungle. Bursts of light around the _Chaos Giants_ in the distance told her their surroundings had been similarly changed.

And then, barely a minute after that, she was engaged in a wholly different group call. "Sora—position and status?"

"I'm minutes from the commercial sector!" a young boy's voice shouted. Himika heard the telltale sucking noises of a lollipop being sucked away to the stick. "I'm hoping those _Chaos Giants_ don't belong to anyone I know!"

"Put it out of your mind. Just neutralize them," Himika said shortly to the former child soldier. "I've already enabled the Action Field: _Wonder Quartet_ and enabled them for use inside the dispersal fields that are holding those monsters at bay. Kurosaki's arrived to bolster our forces—he's handling the incursion at the airport. Gongenzaka?"

"Please look out your window," replied a gruff, steely baritone. She did—and instantly saw the broad white coat of Gongenzaka Noboru—barely a small, squirming dot on the street below—heading for the _Chaos Giant_ that towered over him with purpose in every step. The headmistress thought she could even see his ubiquitous black pompadour.

"I—the man, Gongenzaka—will not suffer flunkies and inferiors. This one is the leader—and the leader is mine!"

"Don't let the thrill of honorable combat dull your senses," Himika admonished him. "There is little to be honored in war. You have the luxury of one against one. End this as quickly as you can."

"Understood."

Himika switched to a new frequency. "Sawatari?"

She winced at the long, tinny scream that reached her ears a split second later. _I might have known._ "Sawatari—what's your status?!"

"Status?!" Sawatari Shingo hollered the word as if he'd never heard it before. "My 'status' is really, really scared for my life! I've got two of those huge metal monsters chasing me and Kakimoto after they blew his house to kingdom come! Ootomo and Yamabe are heading for me, too—they've got three more on their tail—"

Himika stood up, furious. "Order them to pull back at once," she hissed. Sawatari's friends were far from Lancers—against _Chaos Giants_ , they'd only get in his way if it came to a battle in the streets. And if Sawatari himself tried to act noble in the face of five of these mechanical monstrosities—if his father found out—

"There's no other Duelists in sight!" Sawatari protested. "How else are we supposed to fight these things?!"

"Break off your rendezvous and get your friends to a safe location— _now!_ " Himika was almost spitting into her phone at this point. "That is a direct order! Acknowledge!"

Silence.

"Sawatari!"

No response. Only then did Himika realize that the signal strength on her mobile had gone back to zero. The soldiers Shun was fighting must have re-Summoned their monsters, and created enough collective Fusion energy to disrupt their communications once more. She might as well have shouted at a brick for all the good it did.

Feeling distinctly diminished, she pocketed her phone. _Until we get them back_ , she thought, _they're on their own_.

* * *

One of the luxuries of being in a Battle Royale was that no Duelist could attack or draw on their first turn. That was all to the better for Kurosaki Shun. He did not want to waste any of his cards when there was every chance these soldiers could destroy them without needing to attack. So he'd gone first, passed, and bitten his lip in trepidation.

By then he'd alighted on the tarmac of the burning airport—now overwritten with the Solid Vision of an Action Field; Shun recognized the desert ruins that formed only one portion of _Wonder Quartet_. He was also close enough to get an in-depth look at the soldiers that had Summoned the _Antique Gears_ of the Obelisk Force—and that in-depth look was enough to convince him that at least a good chunk of them had once belonged to that self-proclaimed elite company of Duelists; there were too many similarities in their dress and behavior for him to assume otherwise.

There were differences, however, and plenty of them—the first being that of their helmets. Those had been silver, spiky, and stylized after what Shun assumed was some Duel Monster of myth and legend—but the masks _these_ soldiers wore were far simpler and sleeker in design. There were no frills or unnecessary elements of fashion—just a silver helm, a black skullcap underneath, and a mirrored visor to conceal their eyes. Then there were the uniforms: the Obelisk Force had been known for its distinctive blue jackets and white pants, but no such things were to be found here. Instead, each soldier wore fatigues of lavender and dark, camouflage-patterned gray; Shun was reminded of a freshly forged Damascus steel blade, catching the sun's rays as it carved through the air.

What concerned him most were the Duel Disks on their arms—yes, he thought; they wore _two_. One was instantly recognizable as an Academia Duel Disk, but with its characteristic shield shape turned round until it pointed along the arm, turning it into a sort of arrowhead. The violet blade that lanced out from the silver-gray device stuck out point first, too; Shun had no doubt that such a modification allowed it to be used as more of a physical weapon—the implication of that made him grimace.

The device clamped on each of their right arms was smaller, and had no such blade to speak of—making it less of a Duel Disk, and more of a wrist-mounted keypad—but Kurosaki was close enough to the lead soldier that he could see the image of a card on its screen: a Level 10 Fusion Monster. No doubt it was the same _Chaos Giant_ he'd stared down right before he'd started this Duel. He guessed this new device gave these soldiers the ability to use certain monsters outside of a Duel—with the only drawback being they couldn't use them _in_ one.

They still behaved like the Obelisk Force, though: all four of them had begun their turns with an _Antique Gear Hound Dog_ (Level 3: _ATK 1000_ /DEF 1000) and used their effects on Shun for 600 damage a pop, bringing him down to 1600 LP. They'd then used those _Hound Dogs'_ second effects, and fused them with no less than _three_ monsters apiece in their hand to bring out a _Chaos Giant_ (Level 10: _ATK 4500_ /DEF 3000) to each of their fields. Such was the size of those heavily armored machines that four of them clustered so close together almost blocked out the sun. Finally, they'd each played the same Spell— _Antique Gear Garage_ —to add their _Hound Dogs_ back to their hands, ready to inflict more damage for next turn, just in case their big guns got taken out.

Shun shook his head. They were so predictable it was breathtaking. He had to wonder if they'd deliberately stacked their Decks for an opening like that. He wouldn't have put it past the old Obelisk Force—and he certainly wasn't about to put it past this new bunch of bastards, either, since they Dueled just like them.

"My turn! _DRAW!_ " He drew his card so quickly that he could have sworn the shockwave snuffed out several of the nearest flames. Shun's heart almost skipped a beat—the Spell tucked innocuously in his fingers was ordinarily not a card he'd consider The One He Needed To Draw When He Needed It Most. But maybe … just maybe …

"I Summon _Raid Raptors – Vanishing Lanius_ in Attack Position!" he said, slapping a monster onto his Duel Disk, and watching the familiar sight of his blue-and-green mechanical bird rising into the air, its cyclopean eye gleaming bright blue (Level 4: _ATK 1300_ /DEF 1600).

" _Vanishing Lanius'_ effect!" Shun cried. "Once per turn, if it was Normal or Special Summoned this turn, I can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower _Raid Raptors_ monster from my hand! I Special Summon another _Vanishing Lanius_ "—a second avian machine, a mirror image to the one he'd just brought to his field, shimmered into existence—"and use its effect to Special Summon yet another _Vanishing Lanius_!" And a third monster careened onto the field, maneuvering itself until it was beak to beak with its brethren.

This, he was pleased to see, caused one of the soldiers to step back in fear. He was smarter than his comrades, Shun thought—perhaps he would save him for last. "I now use all three of my Level 4 _Vanishing Lanius_ ," he smirked, "to construct the Overlay Network!"

He had to hunker down to avoid being blown off his feet, such was the intensity of the miniature galaxy that had bloomed in the middle of the field. His monsters were sucked inside without further preamble, and their cries mingled to form a keening shriek that melded with the sudden, otherworldly wind:

**"** **Obscured falcon! Raise your sharpened talons in front of adversity, and spread your wings of rebellion!"**

**"** **Xyz Summon!"** Shun howled to the sky. **"Appear! Rank 4!** ** _Raid Raptors – Rise Falcon_** **!"**

His blue cloak billowed every which way as his ace monster tore its way into the real world like a monstrous bat out of hell (Rank 4: _ATK 100_ /DEF 2000; ORU 3). Chrome exhaust pipes gleamed in the flames, humming with exhaust and hissing with black smoke that darkened the sun where the _Chaos Giants_ did not. Gleaming, too, were its curved talons and wicked beak, shining like scimitars striking home for the kill.

Shun smiled. A lifetime ago, all he would have needed to do from here would be to activate his _Rise Falcon's_ effect, and these soldiers would be dead in the water—or possibly just dead. Now, however, there was a part of him that believed those sorts of victories were too easy … too boring. Sometimes, victories needed to be a _statement_.

And so—"I activate the Spell Card: _Rank-Up-Magic – Raid Force_!" he cried. "With this card, I can target 1 Xyz Monster I control, and Overlay it to Xyz Summon a _Raid Raptors_ Xyz Monster whose Rank is 1 higher than that target! I therefore Overlay my _Rise Falcon_ , and its own Overlay Units … to _reconstruct_ the Overlay Network!"

This time, all four of the soldiers took steps backwards. The three shadowy orbs of that spun lazily around _Rise Falcon_ now froze in their tracks, and shot straight into the monster's breast, causing it to crackle with dark energy. The monster only had time to flap its wings and soar into the stratosphere with one last shriek. Seconds later, it had imploded into a sphere of black lightning, snapping with a thousand arcs as if trying to rip the sky itself apart:

**"** **Ferocious falcon. Break through this fierce battle and spread your wings! Destroy our gathering foes!"**

**"** **Rank-Up!** ** _Xyz Change!_** **"** bellowed Shun. **"Appear! Rank** ** _5_** **!** ** _Raid Raptors – Blaze Falcon_** **!"**

Several of those rips had stitched together, glowing and growling with angry red energy. Thunder rumbled, and the gathering clouds lashed at each other with crackling plasma. Then, with a sonorous _CRASH_ , a huge bolt of lightning struck the tarmac from on high, causing a shockwave that actually extinguished one of the burning planes nearby—

—and _Blaze Falcon_ soared forth from the storm with a roaring screech, Shun atop its back (Rank _5_ : _ATK 1000_ /DEF 2000/ORU 4). The Duel Monster's streamlined, scarlet-and-black armor cut through the air as cleanly as any jet fighter. Even the Xyz Duelist found himself gripping at the neck of his monster for dear life; _Rise Falcon_ , being slower and more maneuverable, had often been his choice for traversing any battlefield, Action or otherwise.

But Shun quickly adapted to the rush of speed, the surge of adrenaline that coursed through his body. " _Blaze Falcon's_ effect!" he snarled. "By detaching an Overlay Unit"—one of the quartet of spiraling spheres, trying in vain to keep in pace with the monster, finally winked out as if giving up the race—"I can destroy every Special Summoned monster my opponent controls, and inflict 500 damage to them for each destroyed monster! And since your _Chaos Giants'_ effects only protect them from Spells and Traps, and only prevent my monsters' effects from activating _during the Battle Phase_ —"

The soldiers seemed to realize then that they were clustered too closely together. Armor plates were sliding across _Blaze Falcon's_ wings, revealing hidden caches stocked full of feather-like blades. A lazy flap ejected them all, and they spun in the air until—like the needle of a compass against a magnet—they froze in place … and took aim.

"—it means they're nothing but the rusted scrap they _deserve to be!_ " Shun roared, throwing out a hand. "GO!"

Behind its murderous beak, _Blaze Falcon's_ eight eyes gleamed with sinister green light—and so did its many blades, sweeping, stabbing, and scything the _Chaos Giants_ into ruined hulks with pinpoint laser bursts in a spectacular light show. The wreckage collapsed with one tremendous _THUD_ after another, causing their controllers to tumble to the ground in a tangle of limbs—with each of their Life Point gauges now reading 3500.

Shun was satisfied at the sight. But he was still far from finished. "And now—the Spell Card: _Rank-Up-Magic – Skip Force_!" he screamed, slamming one more card onto his blade. "By activating this card, I can target 1 Xyz Monster I control, and Overlay it to Xyz Summon a _Raid Raptors_ Xyz Monster whose Rank is _2_ higher than that target! So I'll target my _Blaze Falcon_ , and use it and its Overlay Units to reconstruct the Overlay Network _again_!"

Scarlet energy coursed over his monster, disintegrating it photon by photon and turning the remnants dark as pitch. Shun leapt from his perch just as he felt the first gusts of wind, sucked into the miniature black hole that had formed in his monster's place—the wreckage around him was beginning to shift again, affected by the vacuum—

**"** **Unyielding falcon. Spread your broad wings to the edges of heaven, and** **_set the land ablaze with my soul!_ ** **"**

The hole in space-time flared—then burst into a billion clusters of vivid purple light, and a choking cloud of smoke, obscuring Shun from the view of the soldiers he was facing, obscuring everything else around him—

And then a new sound filled the air: the whine of massive engines and many smaller motors, all coming to life and melding with the wind, gathering into a deafening cacophony of pure noise—something immense was rising up from underneath, as if it had been slumbering beneath the airport this whole time—

 **"** **RANK-UP! XYZ CHANGE!"** Shun thundered. **"Appear! Rank** ** _7_** **!** ** _Raid Raptors – Arsenal Falcon_** **!"**

With a mighty gust of wind unseen in all but the strongest of terrestrial storms, Shun's newest weapon of war unveiled itself in full. _Arsenal Falcon_ looked every inch as big—if not bigger still—than any one of the jetliners and enormous cargo planes that were scattered in pieces around the airport. Gunmetal gray wings, lined with sleek black armor, concealed massive hangars beneath their sweeping span, and green lights blinked to life all over its body, from its bladed tail to the ten eyes that dotted its streamlined head (Rank 7: _ATK 2500_ /DEF 2000; ORU 4).

Those green lights now cast shadows all over Shun himself, standing tall on his monster's broad back, arms crossed at his chest. His yellow-green eyes danced with fire, every tongue searing the image of the soldiers below. All of them were pointing at his monster, perhaps saying the same thing: _don't let its size fool you; it only has 2500 ATK … there's no way it can do anything to us …_

Except: "Equip Spell: _Raptor's Ultimate Mace_!" he declared, swiping the card he'd drawn to start his turn across his blade. "Any _Raid Raptors_ monster I equip this card to gains 1000 ATK! And that means"—the green lights of _Arsenal Falcon_ hummed and brightened around him as its ATK rose to 3500—"it's time for my _Arsenal Falcon's_ effect! As long as even one of its Overlay Units is a _Raid Raptor_ monster, it can attack that many times each turn!"

The soldiers froze, went completely silent. And then—perhaps at some unseen signal from their leader—they ran.

 _Too late_ , Shun smirked. "BATTLE PHASE!" His roar cut through the noise of the Duel like the judgment of God. " _Arsenal Falcon_ , attack directly—send every one of those pretenders to hell! **_DARK TALON VENDETTA!_** "

He heard the hiss of the wing hangar doors yawning open. _Arsenal Falcon_ maneuvered itself a little lower, giving Shun just enough of a vantage point to see the soldiers fleeing for the edges of the dispersal field—

_THOOM. THOOM-THOOM-THOOM._

Four enormous missiles—two from each wing—streaked out from beneath his monster in quick succession. Shun's eyes were just quick enough to see the smallest pair of them bearing the wings of his _Vanishing Lanius_ , a third that looked like his _Rise Falcon_ —and a scarlet blur that moved too quickly to be anything but his _Blaze Falcon_.

The last of these was first to strike home, creating a massive crater in the tarmac and sending the lead soldier high into the air, screaming hysterically. His LP gauge hit zero before he'd hit the ground. The remainder of his squad didn't get much further; inside of ten seconds, three more smoking holes had been blasted in the runways, and three more soldiers lay face-down with their arms splayed at odd angles, with each of their Duel Disks shrieking the same message of defeat.

Shun dismounted from his monster without a second thought, not even registering its disappearance behind him, and made a beeline for the lead soldier. Within seconds the blade of his Duel Disk was at the luckless man's throat.

"What were you doing here?" Shun growled. "Why did you attack these people?"

The soldier managed a grin. It wasn't a pretty one; most of his teeth were either missing or broken, and blood leaked from the gaps of the ones that survived.

"You really think I'd tell you?" spat the soldier. "You're just Xyz slime. You wouldn't understand why we fight."

Shun hauled him to his feet, fury in his face. "Your fight's over," he sneered. " _You lost_."

That only made the bloodied soldier grin wider. "We haven't even _started_ ," he said, coughing blood even as he laughed in Shun's face. "You have no idea what we've set in motion here. _No idea at all_."

A beeping noise issued from the keypad on his right wrist. With what must have been his last reserves of energy, the soldier raised his fist high, and spoke three words.

" _Unum in multis!_ "

" _Multi in unum!_ "

Shun almost didn't hear the response from his three subordinates; he'd just now realized what the keypad had been programmed to do. There was no time to savor his victory—he needed to leave _immediately_ —

* * *

Elsewhere, Masumi was so fixated on sprinting through the city streets that she almost didn't notice a single bar of reception spring up out of nowhere on her Duel Disk. When she did, she skidded to a halt so quickly that she nearly fell face-first on the curb.

Within seconds, she'd dialed a number. "Yaiba—Yaiba, are you there?"

"I—ere!" The audio was heavy with static, but Yaiba's voice was instantly recognizable even through that. "I've—t the kids—with me—till at the gym—"

Masumi exhaled in relief. "Stay there—and stay low," she told him. "I'm making my way over now. Can Rika and Hotene put up a fight?"

There was a pause, for a short while her only reply was static. "—eah," the Synchro Duelist's stuttering voice came through. "on't—split up—not yet—alled Hokuto—Fuyu—too far away—"

Masumi did her best to parse this; it sounded like Yaiba wanted to keep as many of the LID together as possible—but both of their Xyz Duelists were too far away for that to happen. She thought for a few moments.

"That might be for the best," she decided. "We shouldn't be bunched up too much out here. If the girls can fight on their own, I say let them; if they can't, they're smart enough to find the nearest shelter. Head back to You Show, babe—you'll meet me halfway, and we can fight together if we need to."

"—ight. Lo—you!"

Masumi smiled. "Love you too." She ended the call, and resumed her sprint with renewed vigor.

* * *

Sora didn't consider himself a shopaholic. He wasn't one for the latest gadgets—except maybe where Dueling was concerned, but then, those had been standard military issue back home—nor was he likely to pay attention to the latest trends in clothing and fashion. So when he'd seen one of the five _Chaos Giants_ he was pursuing use the laser cannon in its right fist to carve right through the local mall, he didn't feel the sort of stabbing feeling that came with seeing one's preferred hangout spot getting destroyed.

Then he'd caught up to them—and noticed that one of the shops that had been vaporized in the attack had been his favorite candy store. What little remained of it had been swallowed up by the lava fields of _Wonder Quartet_.

Such had been his anger that he'd spat out his lollipop stick, and ignited his yellow Duel Disk without a word.

The battle that followed had been largely a blur—figuratively and literally, thanks to the heat haze that permeated this sector of the Field. But all five of the soldiers he'd been fighting had been quick to Fusion Summon the same _Chaos Giants_ (Level 10: _ATK 4500_ /DEF 3000) they'd been using to wreck the city and attack any people they could find. Sora had already needed to disperse at least one crowd of them when they'd gotten too close to the Duel, in danger of getting caught in the crossfire of the _Antique Gear Hound Dogs_ that had reduced his Life Points to a mere 1000—right on the edge of the danger zone.

He took a deep breath. "My turn!" he cried. "Draw!"

His eyes flicked to the card in his fingers— _Yes!_ "I Summon _Furnimal Mouse_ in Attack Position! Then"—he watched the round, winged rodent bounce onto his field, a sugared donut in its paws (Level 1: _ATK 100_ /DEF 100)—"I activate my monster's effect, and Special Summon two more _Furnimal Mice_ from my Deck!" And with a squeak, a pair of identical monsters had alighted alongside its brother (Level 1: _ATK 100_ /DEF 100).

"Next," Sora continued, plucking another card from his hand, "the Spell Card: _Death-Toy Patchwork_! With this, I can add an _Edge Imp_ monster from my Deck to my hand—as well as _this_! I add and activate the Spell Card: _Fusion_! And since I already know where you guys came from, let's just skip the song and dance—I fuse all three _Mice_ on my field with the _Furnimal Penguin_ in my hand, and the _Edge Imp Scissors_ I just added to it!"

He smiled as he felt the telltale hurricane rumble behind him. His _Mice_ scattered, and were quickly sucked inside—followed by the echoes of two monsters that could not have been more different from each other: a tiny penguin barely up to Sora's knee, and many scissoring blades and shears that hissed in the air before vanishing completely:

**"** **Demonic claws, sharp fangs! Become one in the mystic vortex and show us a new form and power!"**

Sora's chant was drowned out by the _THUD_ of a heavy green paw hitting the tiled floor of the mall. The ground shook, sending debris jumping into the air—

**"** **_Fusion Summon!_ ** **Appear! Mystical jungle beast that rips everything to shreds!** **_Death-Toy Scissor Tiger_ ** **!"**

A giggling shadow leapt out from the vortex, alighting on a nearby escalator, then finally landing on the long-since-emptied concierge, smashing it beneath its bulk. What emerged from the wreckage was something out of a young child's nightmare: a stuffed cat seven feet tall and twice as long from nose to tail (Level 6: _ATK 1900 »_ _ **2200**_ /DEF 1500), horrifically mutilated and crudely reanimated, with at least three pairs of scissors stabbed through its arms and chest, then stitched in place. Four eyes—two that popped from the monster's skull, and another glowing pair inside its toothy, smirking maw—leered at the soldiers as if they were yet more mice for it to catch in its clutches.

" _Scissor Tiger's_ first effect gives my _Death-Toys_ 300 ATK for every _Death-Toy_ and _Furnimal_ monster I control," explained Sora. "Its _second_ effect activates when it's Fusion Summoned—and lets me target and destroy as many cards on the field as the number of Fusion Materials used to Summon it! That's five Fusion Materials—three _Mice_ , a _Penguin_ , and the best pair of _Scissors_ a Fusion Duelist could ask for—and five big hunks of walking scrap! GO!"

 _Scissor Tiger_ cackled insanely. It crouched, tensed—and then suddenly it was nothing but a green-and-silver blur of fur and snipping blades, hurtling straight for the soldiers and their monsters. The _Chaos Giants_ were too large—too slow—to flee the onslaught; inside of five seconds, they were indeed nothing but so many hunks of walking scrap.

"And talking of Fusion Materials," Sora went on, as his _Scissor Tiger_ returned to his side, barely even winded, "if my _Penguin_ was sent to the Graveyard to Fusion Summon a _Death-Toy_ monster, I can use its effect to draw 2 cards, then discard a card from my hand!" He did so, tossing one of them, and slapping the other on his blade almost at the same time. "Then I'll activate the Continuous Spell: _Toypot_ —and with it, the Spell Card: _Death-Toy Fusion_!"

He dimly registered the colorful machine appearing behind his back; Sora was far too in his element to care about anything else but the second vortex that was beginning to crackle overhead. "I can use this—you guessed it—to Fusion Summon another _Death-Toy_ monster from my Extra Deck, by banishing its materials from my field or my Graveyard! And I'll banish every single monster I used to Summon _Scissor Tiger_ —so that they can Summon _this_!"

He threw his hands high, feeling the rush of sound from the swirling mass above him, and began to chant anew:

**"** **Demonic claws, sharp fangs! Become one in the mystic vortex and show us a new form and power!"**

**"** **Fusion Summon! Show yourself! Mystical beast that prowls the lonely mountain!** **_Death-Toy Scissor Wolf_ ** **!"**

What little remained of the concierge desk was scattered in every direction by the latest arrival to the Duel: a blue-furred monstrosity of about the same size as _Scissor Tiger_ —and almost exactly the same level of mutilation (Level 6: _ATK 2000 »_ _ **2600**_ /DEF 1500). Crimson eyes, set within the void of its slavering jaws, narrowed at the soldiers, who were suddenly looking a lot more fearful than when Sora had first shown himself to them.

 _Scissor Tiger_ took one glance at its companion and giggled with crazed glee, perhaps aware of its own point gauge rising to 2500. Sora couldn't resist a smirk of his own as he activated "—the Continuous Spell: _Death-Toy Factory_! By banishing a _Fusion_ card from my Graveyard," he said, "I can Fusion Summon _yet again_ —using monsters from my hand or field as the materials, just like the first time! I banish my _Death-Toy Fusion_ , and fuse my _Scissor Tiger_ with the _Furnimal Cat_ in my hand!"

He had to drop to a knee to preserve his footing; the wind that had erupted from his newest churning portal was enough to topple some of the piles of debris around him. With a final cackle, his _Scissor Tiger_ leapt for the vortex, pursued by a tiny purple cat with equally tiny wings on its back—

**"** **Claws of the sadist! Become one with your primal ancestor and show us the power of eons past!"**

**"** **Fusion Summon! Show yourself! Wild ghost-cave beast that bares fangs at all!** **_Death-Toy Sabre Tiger_ ** **!"**

Sora had barely finished his chant when the monster landed on all fours with a _WHAM_. _Sabre-Tiger_ looked more ripped and scarred than any _Death-Toy_ yet seen this Duel: almost a dozen curved blades sprouted from within its furred bulk, including one the size of a man that sliced through its chest, and two more from its head that looked more like horns (Level 8: _ATK 2400 »_ _ **2800**_ /DEF 2000).

" _Sabre Tiger's_ effect gives all of my _Death-Toys_ 400 ATK," grinned Sora, "and its second effect lets me target and Special Summon another _Death-Toy_ monster from my Graveyard! Since there's only one of those in my Graveyard, that means there's just no contest!" He smirked. "Come out to play, _Scissor Tiger_!"

 _Sabre Tiger's_ mouth opened wide—far wider than it should. The stitching that bound the jaws together nearly snapped as _Scissor Tiger_ emerged from inside its bigger brother's belly, looking none the worse for wear—and indeed, looking more gleeful than ever for a very good reason (Level 6: _ATK 1900 » 2300 »_ _ **3200**_ /DEF 1500).

 _Scissor Wolf_ and _Sabre Tiger_ growled alongside their resurrected brother, their own ATK now at _3300_ and _3700_. But it wasn't enough for Sora—if he could just pull a couple more monsters, he'd have this in the bag.

"When _Furnimal Cat_ is used as Fusion Material for a _Death-Toy_ monster," he said, "I can target a _Fusion_ in my Graveyard and put it back in my hand!" One press of a button on his Duel Disk ejected it one second later, and he swiped it up without hesitation. "Next, the _Furnimal Wings_ I discarded for my _Penguin's_ effect! By banishing it and another _Furnimal_ from my Graveyard, I can draw a card—and then, I can destroy a _Toypot_ on my field and draw a second card with it! So I banish my _Wings_ and my _Cat_ —and DRAW!"

He did so with a grunt of exertion. Sora flipped the card in his hands—tensed—and smiled. _So far, so good …_ "Now! I destroy my _Toypot_ "—he heard the machine behind him collapse into a hundred pieces—"and DRAW!"

He regretted putting as much force into the action as he did; he'd need to get that shoulder looked at later. But Sora had seen the second card, and suddenly the pain didn't matter. He wouldn't even need to use _Toypot's_ effect to add another monster from his Deck—he already had everything he needed in the palm of his hand.

And so—"I reactivate the Spell Card: _Fusion_ ," he yelled, "to fuse the _Furnimal Lio_ and _Edge Imp Saw_ in my hand!"

Amidst the rumble of still another portal, he thought he could hear one of his opponents talking. It was the one in the middle—mostly likely the squad leader, therefore, from what Sora could tell. The tone was low, either from awe or a wish to not be heard—but Sora still had enough of his soldier's senses to hear him anyway.

"Four Fusion Monsters in one turn … " murmured the man—definitely young and gruff enough to be former Obelisk Force. "You haven't changed at all, Shiun'in Sora."

He grinned from under his silver helm. "He could have used you. We would've been so much stronger … "

Sora blinked. _He who?!_ But he tabled the question for later—the noise and whirling color behind him had reached a crescendo. He saw a plush lion hurled inside the depths of the whirlpool, with a multi-bladed disc right on its tail:

**"** **Steel blades possessed by demons. Become one with the fanged beast, and show us a new form and power!"**

**"** **FUSION SUMMON!"** he bellowed. **"Appear! King of the hundred beasts that tears everything to pieces!** ** _Death-Toy Wheel Saw Lio_** **!"**

The new Fusion Monster hit the floor with enough force to shatter the tiles beneath its blood-red claws, causing more lava to leak from below. Flesh-colored fur, bandaged and sawn apart by the many slashing edges that formed its mane and torso, rippled and flexed as the mutilated lion uttered a whirring, whining roar from its bifurcated jaws (Level 7: _ATK 2400 » 2800 »_ _ **4000**_ /DEF 2000). A chorus of cries arose to greet it: _Sabre-Tiger's_ was the loudest of them, its own ATK gauge—once at 3700—now dead even with that of _Wheel Saw Lio_ , thanks to _Scissor Tiger_.

Sora's smirk wouldn't have looked out of place on any of his Fusion Monsters. "Ready for some playtime, _Toys_?" He waited for the feral growls to subside. Then—"Battle Phase! _Wheel Saw Lio_ —attack directly!"

He stabbed out with a finger at the nearest gray-clad soldier—and the next moment, his chosen monster was a whirling mass of saws, claws and teeth. It lashed out with a horrid, distorted shriek, backhanding the luckless man across his face with enough strength to lift him off his feet, and claw the helmet right off his head.

Sora didn't even wait to hear the soldier's Duel Disk reach zero LP with a shriek. "Next! _Sabre Tiger_ —attack directly!" Again he trained his finger on the nearest soldier—and again he watched said soldier try in vain to evade a snarling collection of blades and fur. He was smacked off his feet and against an escalator, landing with a _CRUNCH_ that sounded equally of broken bones as it did crumpled metal.

 _Two down_. " _Scissor Tiger_ —attack directly!" With another crow of insane laughter, his 3500-ATK _Scissor Tiger_ was off, rushing straight down the field for the lead soldier. This time, however, the man was ready; Sora saw him tense and drop to one knee right as his monster struck him head-on. He skidded all the way to the wall—just barely inches from crashing through the glass of a jewelry store—but he was still standing; his LP gauge read a scant _500_.

Not that it mattered to Sora. "And finally, my _Scissor Wolf_! Its effect lets it attack once for every Fusion Material used to Summon it!" He counted on his fingers. "Now … what's five times thirty-six hundred again?"

He waited for the two soldiers to run for it, then snapped his fingers as if he hadn't known the answer all along. "Oh yeah, that's right! Enough to finish this Duel—and you along with it! _Scissor Wolf_ , attack them all directly!"

 _Scissor Wolf_ moved like lightning. One moment it had bulled right for one of the fleeing soldiers; the next, it butted him aside with enough force that it registered on his LP gauge, plummeting to 400—and then to a big fat zero as the momentum sent him through a pane of glass and into a boutique clothing outlet. Claws skidded against the floor, scoring gashes in the tile—and seconds later, _Scissor Wolf_ had charged down the second soldier, catching him in its jaws, shaking him like a dog toy—and finally flinging him against an elevator hard enough to crumple the doors.

That just left the squad leader—and both Sora and his _Wolf_ advanced on him now. It was impossible to tell which of the two was more satisfied at seeing the man broken and on a knee.

"This changes nothing, Sora," the soldier snarled defiantly. He was tapping at the screen on his other wrist. "We're still going to win, no matter what happens to this city—just like you're still a traitor who picked the _losing side_."

"Really?" Sora, out of breath though he was, felt quite airy about it all. "What did you want to happen to _my_ city?" He deliberately emphasized the word. "'Cause the way I see it, everyone here's fighting back—against _you_."

The soldier smiled. The screen on his keypad began to beep, glowing with purple light. " _Unum in multis_ , Sora."

He reacted just in the nick of time—with one final swipe, _Scissor Wolf_ had finished the soldier off right as a violet flash engulfed his body. At the same time, a suddenly tense Sora had sprinted away, knowing full well what that light was, and that he didn't want to get caught in its area of effect—

Silence. Sora skidded to a halt, looked back at the ravaged, half-melted pavilion of the mall—and bit his lip.

 _The soldiers were gone_.

He exhaled, deactivating his Duel Disk and watching his _Death-Toys_ vanish from view. "I need a candy bar after that—OH, WAIT!" he was suddenly hollering, focusing all of his ire on the nonexistent squad of soldiers who'd turned his favorite candy store to rubble. "YOU MANIACS BLEW IT ALL TO H—"

Sora broke off right as something gurgled in his stomach. He rolled his eyes. "Great," he huffed. He set off along the deserted mall, wondering if it would be worth the battery power to have his Duel Disk hack a vending machine.

But the farther he traveled, the less Sora began to think about his sweet tooth, and more about what the soldier had said. _Unum in multis_. He'd taken a few foreign languages as an elective at Academia, including English and the Romance languages that had risen from the old Latin tongue. _Unum in multis_ … one among many, he translated.

He shook his head. Probably some silly little creed that had been thought up after his time there, he decided. It wasn't as though the Obelisk Force had spent that time stepping up their game, from what he'd seen today—

Now what was that? His ears had picked up a new sound, magnified many-fold against the silent galleria. It was faint, and fading, but Sora had heard enough to look off to his right, where he thought the sound had come from.

All he saw was a hallway, its main branch ending at a department store. Sora shook his head. Maybe his mind had been playing tricks on him. Or maybe this mall wasn't as deserted as he'd thought. But those hadn't sounded like soldiers' footsteps, or even police—they were too quick, too light. Not at all the sound heavy boots would make.

He stared down the hall for a long moment before he felt his insides growl again. Whoever it was, he decided, it could wait until after he'd had a bite to eat. So could the battle—there was no use fighting on an empty stomach.

 _Okay … where can I find a vending machine around here?_ Sora wondered, as he set off deeper into the mall—quite unaware of the eyes that lingered on his retreating figure … before they, too, vanished into the commercial expanse.

* * *

Gongenzaka Noboru considered himself far too noble a man to sink to the level of profane tirades. But he'd felt an especially long one build up inside his mouth, as while he'd been the first to reach the man he believed to be the leader of these soldiers, he hadn't been the first to _challenge_ him.

He didn't know the policeman's name, nor what Duel School he might have attended to explain the _Beast God King Barbaros_ he'd carried in his Deck. Noboru, however, had too much respect for authority to have refused his order to step back and allow him to take over. But it hadn't been enough—and he had been forced to intrude on the Duel when it became clear the nameless policeman had no chance.

At least he'd had the sense to flee before the certainty of being sealed into a card, but intrusions carried a penalty. Which meant Noboru had less LP than he might be comfortable with on any given day—and less still thanks to the _Hound Dog_ that had torn holes in his favorite coat, and had Summoned the _Chaos Giant_ (Level 10: _ATK 4500_ /DEF 3000) that currently towered over him and the Solid Vision forest that had appeared with _Wonder Quartet_.

1400 Life Points was survivable for a one-on-one Duel, though—and now that he'd begun his turn, Noboru knew just what to do with the card he'd just drawn to start his turn.

"I Summon _Superheavy Samurai Kagebo-C_!" he declared, watching a slender robot in purple armor shimmer in front of him (Level 3: ATK 500/DEF 1000). "Then, I use its effect to Release it and Special Summon another _Superheavy Samurai_ from my hand! I Special Summon _Superheavy Samurai Dai-8_ in Defense Position!"

 _Kagebo-C_ blew a long note on the flute it carried—then suddenly collapsed to reveal a rickety wagon, laden with mismatched armor and carried by a green robot with tires for legs (Level 4: ATK 1200/ _DEF 1800_ ).

"Now for my _Dai-8's_ effect!" boomed Noboru. "If I have no Spells or Traps in my Graveyard, I can change it to Attack Position, and add a _Superheavy Samurai Soul_ monster from my Deck to my hand!" He did so. "Then, I use the effects of the _Superheavy Samurai Souls Chūsai_ and _Iwato'oshi_ in my hand, and equip them to _Dai-8_!"

As motors revved inside _Dai-8_ , a crossbow appeared on one of its arms—and then two more arms sprouted from each of the green robot's shoulder blades. " _Soul Chūsai's_ effect allows me to Release the monster it is equipped to," said Noboru, "and Special Summon another _Superheavy Samurai_ monster from my Deck! I Special Summon _Superheavy Samurai Big Ben-K_ in Defense Position!"

He planted one of his _geta_ sandals with a _thud_ on the grassy field that, again thanks to _Wonder Quartet_ , had grown over the crossroads outside LDS. A much bigger _THUD_ answered him a moment later as—right at the moment _Dai-8_ had vanished from view—a hulking machine in thick red armor, half his height again and about as broad at the shoulder, stomped onto the field, a long, double-bladed spear in its hands (Level 8: ATK 1000/ _DEF 3500_ ).

"By Releasing _Chūsai_ and _Dai-8_ , I also sent my _Iwato'oshi_ to the Graveyard," said Noboru, "and because I did that, I can use _Iwato'oshi's_ effect to add another _Superheavy Samurai_ from my Deck to my hand! I add the Tuner monster _Superheavy Samurai Horaga-Ī_ —and because I still have no Spells or Traps in my Graveyard, I can Special Summon it to my field with its own effect! Behold!"

He stomped the ground with his other _geta_ , and another scarlet-armored robot, this one barely reaching his waist in height, shimmered onto the field, a giant conch half his size raised to its lips (Level 2: ATK 300/ _DEF 600_ ).

"This is the genius of Steadfast Dueling, as laid down by my father!" Noboru cried, feeling his heart blazing in a way that would have impressed Hīragi Shūzō, "and _this_ is the genius of Steadfast Dueling, as perfected by his only son! Watch now—as the noblest of men, Gongenzaka, Tunes his Level 2 _Horaga-Ī_ with the Level 8 _Big Ben-K_!"

He clapped his hands together with a sonorous shockwave. Before him, _Big Ben-K_ and _Horaga-Ī_ began to glow a bright green, their metallic bodies converging on one another in a double halo of light:

**"** **Raging deity, in unison with the roar of a thousand blades, come forth in a spiraling sandstorm!"**

**"** **Synchro Summon!"** roared Noboru. **"Now come before us, Level 10!** ** _Superheavy Kōjin Susano-Ō_** **!"**

 _BOOM_.

The earthshaking impact unseated the enemy soldier, and even his _Chaos Giant_ was forced to readjust its footing with a whine of motors. But for a student of Steadfast Dueling, to be unaffected by such a momentous force was a mark even its lowliest of students shared—and Gongenzaka Noboru considered himself nothing if not the best.

The proof of this now drew itself to its full height behind him: fifteen feet tall, and almost as wide, the elephantine bulk of _Susano-Ō_ shook the ground with every step, and the heavy sword it unsheathed seemed to make it tremble even more, as if in sudden fear (Level 10: ATK 2400/ _DEF 3800_ ).

"I now use the effects of two more _Souls_ —my _Soul Great Wall_ and my _Soul Double Horn_ —to equip themselves from my hand to _Kōjin Susano-Ō_!" Noboru bellowed, slamming the last two cards in his hand upon his fiery orange blade. Moments later, a scaly green wall twice his height had shimmered along _Susano-Ō_ 's right arm, while an even thicker suit of horned armor assembled itself over the already thick teal plates that covered the Synchro Monster.

Noboru permitted himself a smile then. "Due to the effect of _Soul Great Wall_ , any monster equipped with it gains 1200 DEF! Furthermore, my _Kōjin Susano-Ō_ 's effect allows it to attack in Defense Position, and to use its DEF for damage calculation! And any monster equipped with _Soul Double Horn_ ," he added, watching his ace monster grow to a daunting 5000 DEF, "is able to attack twice each turn! BATTLE PHASE!"

 _Susano-Ō_ 's sword began to glow with blinding light. " _Kōjin Susano-Ō_ ," thundered the scion of the Gongenzaka Dōjō, "attack _Antique Gear Chaos Giant_!"

With a roar of rockets, _Susano-Ō_ surged forward, cannonballing into _Chaos Giant_ with enough force to knock the robot—over twice its size, but more than twice as top-heavy—right off its feet. One swift slice from its sword carved the great machine in two at the waist, and the two halves disintegrated in a tremendous explosion.

"And now"—Noboru stabbed out with his finger—"attack directly! **_Kusanagi Sword Slash!_** " Another burst of rockets whirled the mechanical samurai a full hundred and eighty degrees—and far quicker than the soldier could hope to escape the inevitable.

 _SMASH_. The crater his monster's attack left in the road wasn't as big as the footprints left by the _Chaos Giant's_ weight. But it was close, and only the grace of fate, Noboru decided—well, either that, or the Solid Vision of _Wonder Quartet_ —might have kept it from being bigger still and causing the entire street, hard-light grass, trees, and all, to cave into the sewers below.

 _Susano-Ō_ faded from view—the Duel complete, the battle won—and he walked towards the fallen soldier, already composing a speech in his head about how once again, nobility and gallantry had triumphed over sheer cowardice.

But the speech was not to be; Noboru had only just seen the soldier rise to his feet before he screamed three words.

" _Unum in multis!_ "

Before he knew it, a blast of purple light issued from the device on the soldier's right wrist, blinding Noboru enough that he fell to the road in surprise. Stars flared in his eyes for a few moments before he could recover enough to blink them away.

When he did, he could do nothing but gape: _the soldier was gone_. No, he thought just as quickly; that wasn't true—not entirely. Something small and thin—barely big enough to fit in the palm of his hand—fluttered about in the breeze that caressed the streets, quiet in the aftermath of the battle. Then, a moment later, this too flared with a flicker of blue light, and it disappeared before Noboru's eyes as well.

It took him some time to realize the enormity of what he'd just seen: _the soldier had turned himself into a card_. And then something else—some _one_ else—had transported that card back to God-only-knew-where, to doubly ensure that no knowledge whatsoever could be gleaned from the soldier's defeat.

And all this, he thought with a growing disgust, had happened almost with delight. Though Noboru did not know what the soldier's final words meant, he had been just close enough to see the smirk of madness across his lips.

He'd sealed himself—effectively committed suicide—with _glee_.

The street seemed ten times quieter now. Noboru felt himself trembling. _What kind of enemy are we fighting_ , he thought, _to put such thoughts into the lowest of its ranks?_ What sort of person would do this to his own army?

Something was missing here, he mused. They were forgetting a critical element—

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

Noboru blinked at the deafening squeal that had just come from the device. _Oh. Of course_.

He shook his head. "Gongenzaka calling any Lancer," he muttered into his Duel Disk. "Can someone—anyone— _please_ rescue Sawatari before he hurts himself?" And hopefully, he added in his head, before he managed to drag anybody else into whatever mess he'd stepped in?

* * *


	5. IV

IV

Sawatari Shingo liked to think he'd changed in the course of the past year—both as a person and as a Duelist. He'd gone from stealing a couple of Pendulum Monsters from Sakaki Yūya and holding the boy's friends hostage—just so Akaba Reiji could learn how those monsters worked—to fighting Sakaki Yūya as a god made flesh with his _own_ Pendulum Monsters. So what if he'd lost both times? Shingo took great personal pride in the fact that that latter loss had occurred without Reiji needing to help him at all—and besides, everybody said loss was supposed to build character. So a Dueling record like his only proved his point that he'd matured quite drastically in such a short time. In fact, he didn't even care that people teased him over it anymore. Really. Hardly.

Not. At. All.

That didn't mean he wouldn't lapse from time to time, though. Which was why—as he'd yanked Kakimoto out of the living room of his friend's house, out the front door, and right between the legs of the _Antique Gear Chaos Giant_ that had appeared there without even so much as a hi-how-are-you—he'd sprinted down the street faster than he had ever run in his life, his feet pounding the asphalt so quickly that Kakimoto's feet lost contact with the ground.

The sound of a laser beam carving through houses and yards—one of them no doubt belonging to Kakimoto—had lent wings to his flight. Every purple flash in the corner of his eye—every shout and scream of a terrified onlooker cut off as quickly as it had started—was one more step he could take away from certain doom. By the time he'd seen another _Chaos Giant_ being Summoned directly in front of him, Shingo, despite the adrenaline that swamped his brain—or perhaps even because of it—had arrived to a threefold conclusion.

First, he now saw who the Duelists who'd conjured these monsters were. Even remembering the first time he'd seen a _Chaos Giant_ Summoned before, and thus knowing who such forces of destruction belonged to, the soldiers looked too familiar for this to be coincidence. Secondly, as a Lancer who'd fought against the old Academia, Shingo, in his panic, assumed this to be a retaliatory strike from some force they must have kept in reserve.

Finally, he reasoned that if this was to be how his last moments of corporeal existence were to end, he should at least try to do something heroic first. Which was why he'd told Kakimoto to call up Ootomo and Yamabe so that they could meet up for a final stand—and which, in turn, was how he'd learned the both of them were on the run from their own pack of _Chaos Giants_ as well.

By the time he'd realized his mistake, Shingo had seen no less than three _Chaos Giants_ tearing their way through another residential sector, and realized that if he fled any further, he'd risk having all five of them on his tail. Yes, they'd all be chasing him instead of attacking the rest of Maiami City—but diverting an enemy force sounded a lot less heroic when said enemy force wasn't composed of _five_ Chaos Giants _and the soldiers who controlled them_.

Then, by chance—just when he was about to pull out his Duel Disk, call his father and tell him how much he loved him—a young girl crossed his path, nearly careening into him. Shingo—top-heavy from how quickly he'd been running with Kakimoto in tow—skidded to a halt and promptly overbalanced, sending both boys crashing to the road in a heap. Only by twisting to the left at the last second did he avoid many, many zeroes on his next dental bill.

The girl, meanwhile—a preteen barely up to his navel in height—rounded on Shingo with an expression of extreme shock. "Oh my gosh! Are you okay?!"

Shingo was groggy as he pulled himself to his feet. He wondered if that was a sign of concussion. "We'll live," he said woozily. "Ow … " His eyes were out of focus enough that he didn't get a good look at the girl's face, but he saw enough that she looked vaguely familiar to him now.

She was very _green_ , he thought—the wispy hairs on her scalp were as brightly verdant as a neon sign. An effort had been made to pull it back into a ponytail, whose orange ends conjured up images of the first leaf of autumn dangling from a tree, but extreme physical activity—no doubt from her running from who-knew-where—had left it in danger of falling to pieces. Her lime-colored tank top fit far too tightly against her—perhaps because she'd tucked it into her black gym shorts—but then Sawatari belatedly realized it was a leotard, with a silver scimitar-like stripe arcing gracefully from her waist to her left shoulder.

The girl must have been in dance class or something when the sirens had gone off, Shingo decided—the black duffel bag draped over one shoulder suggested she hadn't even had time to change her clothes—and was trying to make it home to her parents, where she must have thought it would be safer. But with the level of carnage he'd seen in the surrounding neighborhood, he wasn't optimistic that this girl's house was still standing—or that her parents were still around, given the order to evacuate and seek shelter.

"Sawa … tari?" Immediately he tore his eyes away from the girl, far more alert than before.

Kakimoto's voice was muffled against gnashed teeth. "Please … don't ever do that again."

He was cradling his left arm gingerly; Shingo hoped it was only a dislocation. But a faint smile twitched over his friend's face, and that was enough to make him feel the immense weight being lifted off his shoulders.

"Vis-con on target," crackled a voice over a radio. "Situation is eight-seven, Control. We've got him now."

Shingo looked up—and gulped as he saw both of the soldiers he'd been fleeing from, leveling the keypads on their left wrists right at him. The _Chaos Giants_ that towered behind them did the same thing.

He had no idea what made him do it. Maybe it was Kakimoto—or maybe it was the girl. But something happened to Sawatari Shingo at that moment: he felt a surge deep inside him, a base need to protect his fellow man and woman. How long he knew them didn't matter. But he knew they didn't stand a chance against these men.

 _Unless_.

"Eight-seven _this_!" he said defiantly, clipping his forest-green Duel Disk to his left arm. He slashed it through the air, activating a blade as lime-green as the girl's leotard.

"Action Field: _Wonder Quartet_ active citywide," the device announced just then in a cool female voice. "Lancer signature confirmed. Stand by for dispersal field inversion."

Shingo's heart nearly stopped as a sphere of light radiated out from a nearby lamppost, blinding him temporarily and encompassing the houses, the street, Kakimoto, and the girl in the time it took to blink. A chill rippled over his body, sending goosebumps over every inch of his exposed skin.

When the spots faded from his eyes, the chill was instantly explained: the entire neighborhood looked as though it had been subjected to a nuclear winter. Cars and entire houses—damaged or otherwise—were covered in sheets of ice. Inches of snow blanketed the ground, leaving no distinction between lawns and roads, and muffling the noise of the city so thoroughly that Shingo's own breath felt deafening.

At least there was no sign of those _Chaos Giants_ — _small favors_ , he thought, _all things considered_. But he wasn't so dumb as to think he wouldn't be seeing them again soon.

He motioned to the girl, and to Kakimoto. "Both of you, behind me now," he said, in as authoritative a voice as he could muster under the circumstances. It was very hard work.

Kakimoto was in no condition to argue. But the girl sniffed haughtily. "Eh, I can take 'em," she said flippantly, fidgeting in place and stealing a look at her duffel bag. Shingo guessed she kept a Duel Disk somewhere in there.

"Let's not wait around to find out," he said warningly. "I'll take these two. If you want to go down swinging, you can take the next one. Just stay behind me and stay out of trouble."

The girl rolled her eyes. "If you say so, Mr. Bossy."

Shingo felt his lip curl at the cheek, but now wasn't the time to pull rank. There were other ways to prove that a student of the Leo Duel School, and a member of the Lancers, was a badge of honor—and a symbol of strength to the people who needed it most.

He rolled his shoulders, clenched his fingers to work out the cold—and prepared to do what he did best.

" _DUEL!_ "

* * *

Several miles away from Sawatari and Kakimoto, the other two friends in that close social circle were in a sticky situation of their own.

Ootomo would normally be feeling his smug self whenever he was about to witness a Duel—especially against some very powerful monsters. He liked it less so when he was the one fighting the Duel in question—and even less still when those very powerful monsters were looking right at him. And the three gigantic machines that had trained laser cannons the size of locomotives right on his head looked as strong as strong could be.

He looked at Yamabe. His companion's green hair was slick with sweat, and so was the back of his school uniform.

"I don't think we have a choice," he said ruefully. "You'd better give me that duffel."

Yamabe spluttered where he stood. He glanced at the enormous carry-on bag he'd draped over one shoulder. "But—but this is supposed to be for Sawatari- _san_! He told me specifically that no one else could wear it but him! He only gave it to me because his washing machine was broken, and he trusted me to clean it properly—"

But Ootomo waved him off. "If you want to dodge all these monsters and these soldiers and find him yourself, you're more than welcome," he said. "Or you can give that duffel to me."

Yamabe swallowed. "If Sawatari- _san_ catches you wearing this … "

" _Neo New_ Sawatari can handle himself," Ootomo said confidently, stressing the words deliberately. He patted his Duel Disk. "And besides," he smirked, "I'd say now's as good a time as ever to introduce … **_Neo New_ Ootomo**."

And even Yamabe, trembling where he stood as he opened the duffel bag, couldn't resist a smile of his own as he withdrew its contents, tossing them to his friend.

Ootomo caught the wide-brimmed, woven reed hat with his outstretched hand, cocking it over his head with a flourish. The blue cloak inside it fell into his arms, and a quick movement—practiced a hundred times in the mirror in preparation for this moment—cinched the cord loosely around his neck, and it draped over his arms and torso with a single flutter of wind—

He drew himself to his full height. _Time to get into character_. "Come, then!" he growled, feeling like Chūtarō of Banba drawing his trusty _katana_ as he leveled his Duel Disk at the soldiers. " _Let's Duel!_ "

* * *

_Leo Duel School_

Himika exhaled. It felt good to breathe again—even if things were far from over.

They'd managed to contain the worst of the surprise attack—Sora and Kurosaki would have to be commended for that, she thought later. Gongenzaka had done his part by taking out the apparent leader of the strike, and had been instrumental in informing Himika of a wholly unexpected maneuver on the soldiers' part.

That they sealed themselves into cards as well as other citizens was surprising, but not without precedent. Dennis MacField had done the same thing to himself once, in what felt like another lifetime. It was what happened to the soldiers' cards _afterwards_ , however, that had gotten her to thinking. Why, after all, was it the _cards_ that got sent back to the dimension from whence the soldiers had come, rather than the soldiers themselves? Academia had at least had the good sense to recall any soldier that fell on the battlefield back to the Fusion Dimension—both as a way to safeguard their lives for the fight ahead as well as a way to preserve whatever secrets they carried—

The penny dropped. _The fight ahead …_ Himika's brain was racing. Something much bigger was going on here than just a simple all-out assault. And none of these men seemed to be fighting under fear of being sealed—as far as she could tell, they were doing the same thing as Dennis: they were turning themselves into cards of their own free will.

"These aren't soldiers," she murmured under her breath. "They're _cultists_." Fanatics, she thought—people whose minds had been so warped by whatever ideology had ensnared them that they would fight for it until their last breath. Even if the end came at their own hand, they would make it so to see the vision of their beliefs—or of their own—recognized for good.

The JSDF would be worse than useless here, she now knew. Fighting one army with another army was one thing. Fighting an _idea_ , and those who sought to spread it to the world, required a far more flexible strategy—something more labyrinthine and widespread than mere brute force could—

Himika blinked. _Labyrinthine_. The more she thought about it, the more she thought she might have an idea.

"Updates from our runners, Himika- _san_ ," Nakajima spoke up just then. He was grinning—an uncharacteristic sign of relief upon his face. "The Lancers are beginning to take out the primary attack force—we have reports confirming that the initial incursions within the commercial sector and the airport have been contained!"

The headmistress nodded. _So far so good_ , she thought. "What about the secondary forces—the ones that have been spreading out into the city?"

Nakajima tapped at his tablet. "All police precincts have been mobilized to engage them," he said, "and are deploying non-lethal measures against the invaders. Per your instructions, they are under orders to capture and interrogate. However … the soldiers are making that somewhat difficult."

Himika had seen the results of Gongenzaka's Duel with the lead soldier. "Let me guess … they're sealing themselves, too?"

Her aide was silent. He didn't need to go on, but he did. "Eyewitness video is already trending on social media," he said. "It's … well. You should see for yourself."

He offered the tablet, and pointed to a series of videos. Himika pressed one at random—and instantly felt green.

There was no audio—either by accident or design—and the footage jumped all over the place, as if whoever was holding the camera was themselves running scared. Perhaps that was for the best, in any case; the headmistress felt sick as she watched three soldiers sprint into a fleeing crowd, the sword-shaped blades of their Duel Disks—so like the old Academia in their shape, but so very different in their orientation—swinging and hacking away at anyone within their reach. Occasionally, they passed through flesh and bone, and the affected person would open their mouth wide in a silent scream, before flashing into purple light and shrinking into a slim, rectangular shape.

Himika had seen those shapes far too many times not to know what they were.

"There's a dozen more like it," said Nakajima quietly, "and probably a dozen more for each one we haven't yet seen." He bowed his head. "If that's true, we could be looking at hundreds of casualties already."

She turned to Nakajima. "Has LDS been evacuated?" she demanded.

Her aide nodded. "Some skeleton contingents of security, but that's it," he said.

"Good. Have them regroup and deploy at every entrance to LDS, down to the service hatches." She began issuing orders to any personnel her ice-blue gaze could zero in on. "Transfer all lockdown protocols to my private terminal. I want all access points sealed off at once, but I still want manual overrides in place."

The technician cocked his head. "Manual overrides?" he repeated. "Are you saying you _want_ these soldiers to—?"

"Precisely." The fresh lipstick on Himika's smirking lips glinted like a bloody blade in the sun. " _Precisely_."

* * *

Several kilometers away, Sawatari Shingo was in trouble. The soldiers he was fighting had wasted no time in unloading a barrage of effect damage on him. By the time they'd each used a _Hound Dog_ to bring out the _Chaos Giants_ he'd been running from for the past fifteen minutes (Level 10: _ATK 4500_ /DEF 3000), his LP had been reduced to 2800—manageable, but not the sort of disadvantage he'd wanted to face before even taking his turn.

He rubbed at the bruises on his numb skin. Shingo knew it was only hard-light that was responsible for the hits he'd taken, but anything solid still had its hazards, and Solid Vision could replicate cold environments enough that prolonged exposure to even these carried a risk of frostbite. He bit back a curse—it wasn't his fault that the ice sector of _Wonder Quartet_ had activated here, just his bad luck.

And talking of bad luck, his hand wasn't much better—nothing but monsters to speak of. He'd been hoping for at least one Spell, but the only thing his hand assured him of right now was a bunch of weaker targets for those _Chaos Giants_ to feast on. Summoning too many would mean the first of those mechanical monstrosities would seal his doom, thanks to that multi-attack effect they possessed—but Summoning only one would ensure that the second one would finish him off.

It wasn't good. But Shingo took one look at the shivering girl behind him—practically dancing in place to keep herself moving, keep herself warm—and knew he had to do whatever he could to protect her.

He frowned. He could have sworn he'd seen this girl somewhere before. Possibly she was a Duelist he'd seen at a tournament, but there was no way she'd Dueled him; they were in a completely different age group. But it was a question he could wait to address till later. He had much more pressing things on his mind now—

"DRAW!"

—like the card he'd just turned over in his fingers. Instantly, Shingo's mind began to work faster than it had in months, ever since his Duel with Z-ARC. _I can use this!_ he thought. _I might even be able to … yes …_

"Here goes!" he cried, placing a pair of cards either end of his blade. "With my Scale 0 _Abyss Actor – Mellow Madonna_ and my Scale 9 _Abyss Actor – Twinkle Little Star_ , I'm going to Set the Pendulum Scale!"

He was pleased to hear the soldiers murmur in confusion about this. "Scale 0?!" one of them repeated.

"No one's ever used a Scale 0," said the other, almost reverently. "Not since … _him_."

Sawatari conveniently neglected to mention that Z-ARC was the reason he'd had _Mellow Madonna_ commissioned; a generous donation from his father to LDS had sweetened that particular deal. But there was no disguising his smug look as the twin ice-blue lights shone down upon the field, each bearing half of the Scale he was about to use: one, a morose-looking one-eyed girl wearing a witch's hat and ballerina's tutu as shocking pink as her bobbed hair; the other, a curvaceous woman in an expensive-looking black dress, with enough pink hair and lavender skin on her person that she could have been _Twinkle Little Star's_ mother.

" _Mellow Madonna's_ Pendulum effect!" Lightning crackled around Shingo—painful, but not nearly as debilitating as it would be if it had been the real thing. "By paying a thousand Life Points, I can add another _Abyss Actor_ Pendulum Monster from my Deck to my hand!"

The monster he'd chosen was slipped into his hand before his LP had even finished falling to 1800. "And now, ladies and gentlemen—put your hands together as I **_PENDULUM SUMMON!_** " Sawatari cried, raising his hands to the sky. "Presenting! _Abyss Actor – Big Star_! _Abyss Actor – Funky Comedian_! _Abyss Actor – Wild Hope!_ _Abyss Actor – Devil Heel_! And, just because I can, everyone's favorite leading lady— _Abyss Actor – Pretty Heroine_!"

Five multicolored bolts of lightning crashed down upon the frozen road, leaving spider webs in the sheets of ice that layered the asphalt. From each one came a face that could not have been more different from its brethren: a pink-haired, purple-skinned man in his prime wearing a spiky black suit, holding _Mellow Madonna_ aloft from below with a single hand as if to show off his strength (Level 7: _ATK 2500_ /DEF 1800), and a green-haired, perky-looking teenager (Level 4: _ATK 1500_ /DEF 1000) whose pigtails swirled in the air like a hurricane as she took up position next to _Twinkle Little Star_ , and a tall, dark desperado in garish blue and gold standing in between them (Level 4: _ATK 1600_ /DEF 1200), and right in front of Shingo.

Among these two monsters emerged a pair of even more monstrous Summons: each of them as flabby, eyeless, and misshapen as the other. The larger of the two horrors flexed its muscular arms, baring dark red teeth (Level 8: _ATK 3000_ /DEF 2000), while its smaller companion let fly with a laugh that befitted its round belly, spreading all four of its yellowed arms wide (Level 1: _ATK 300_ /DEF 200). Shingo stood between them both, a cocky smile on his face as he gestured to each of his monsters in turn.

" _Funky Comedian's_ effect activates if it's Normal or Special Summoned," he explained, watching the sigils on both his monsters begin to glow, "and gains 300 ATK for each _Abyss Actor_ monster I control until the end of the turn! And the same goes for his best pal, _Devil Heel_ —only instead of gaining ATK, its effect allows me to target a monster my opponent controls, and make it lose 1000 ATK for each of those _Abyss Actors_! So! Take that _Chaos Giant_ down to size, boys!"

He stabbed his finger at the nearest monster, and as if the sight of the metal behemoth was the punch line to some joke, the two obese monsters laughed out loud, their voices booming even in the silence of the frozen wasteland. The air distorted around their mouths, then the field, and finally the _Chaos Giant_ towering over all but its companion—until suddenly, a discordant shrieking noise rent the air: the monster's metal innards were twisting asunder, buckling from the sheer force of the monsters' glee.

"How's that for a side-splitter?" Shingo smirked, gesturing to the point gauges above the monsters' heads; _Funky Comedian_ was flexing what little muscle it had—no doubt because it too had just seen its 1800 ATK—while the _Chaos Giant_ , now sparking and shuddering where it stood in sharp contrast, had been reduced to a big fat zero.

 _Perfect_. "Next—my _Wild Hope's_ effect! Once per turn, I can make it gain 100 ATK for each different _Abyss Actor_ monster on my field! Since I've got a full spread, that means a full 500 ATK! And then," he added, watching the point gauge above his monster rise to 2100 as it adjusted something on the pistol in its grip, "I'll activate _Funky Comedian's_ second effect!" he shouted. "By forfeiting its attack this turn, I can target another _Abyss Actor_ I control, and make it gain _Funky Comedian's_ ATK—every last point of it! So I'll target my _Devil Heel_!"

As if in response, the monster threw back its head and guffawed in thunderous laughter again, expanding and towering over his fellow demons with every passing second. Eventually, it stood almost waist-high with the powered-down _Chaos Giant_ —its ATK now sitting squarely at 4800. That sort of strength was not something you wanted to see run over your own monster—and Shingo was pleased to see the soldiers agreed with him; one of them had taken a couple steps backwards, nearly slipping on the ice-covered road, and his silver helm didn't cover enough of his face to conceal his shock at the sudden reversal.

 _About time these people started showing me the proper respect_ , he thought. _I'll save him for last—as a thank-you_.

"Battle Phase!" screamed Shingo. " _Pretty Heroine_ —attack _Chaos Giant_!" The demon girl giggled coyly, winking her one eye at the soldier—and suddenly she was a blur of gymnastic grace, sprinting across the ice so quickly she might have been skating. Halfway across, she twisted into a series of handsprings—one, two, three—and soared so high on the third that when she stabbed out with her legs, she plowed straight through _Chaos Giant's_ chest as well, cleaving the monster in two. _Pretty Heroine_ hit the ground in a three-point stance at the same time as the mammoth machine's severed torso; its disembodied legs followed suit a long moment later, and only through sheer luck did Shingo avoid falling square on his backside from the force of the impact.

The soldier controlling the fallen _Chaos Giant_ , however, did just that—and judging from the grimace on his mouth, Shingo had a suspicion that the luckless man's LP gauge, now dropping to 2500, had translated every last point of damage into a broken tailbone. He wouldn't be sitting down for a while after that.

"Next!" he cried. " _Big Star_ —attack directly!" But the monster was already moving, engaged in a twirling midair dance with _Mellow Madonna_ that was fast becoming a blur. Suddenly, she loosed _Big Star_ as if throwing a loaded sling, turning him into a veritable wall of whirling black spikes. The soldier had no time to react; _Big Star_ careened into him with enough force to send him sprawling against a frozen-over car, which crumpled against his weight. The crunch of flesh and bone hitting metal head-on was quickly drowned out by the soldier's LP gauge hitting zero.

 _One down_. And good news became better still for Shingo; the soldier's unconscious body had shifted the ice atop the car he'd hit, causing it to slide off the roof. Buried in that roof was an instantly familiar sparkling rectangle.

Ignoring the cold that stabbed at his throat, he crossed over to the curb as quickly as his numb legs would let him. He didn't care if the soldier had seen or not—he had plenty of problems as it was, chief among them a 4800 ATK monster who was rubbing its enormous hands together, giggling gormlessly to itself as if anxious to join the fun.

The Action Card sat half-submerged in the cascade of ice behind the car. Shingo plucked it out—and grinned. He'd been hoping for something that would boost his monsters' ATK, but what he'd just picked up was even better.

First, however: " _Abyss Actor – Devil Heel_! Attack the remaining _Chaos Giant_!" The purple monstrosity bayed with glee, sprinting towards the huge machine in an earthshaking stampede. By the time it rammed into the _Chaos Giant_ , it had gathered enough momentum to smash right through an armored leg without even slowing down, causing the machine to overbalance and topple to the road. A very final _BOOM_ detonated from somewhere in the monster's innards, enveloping it in flames and finishing it for good before _Devil Heel_ could get another strike in.

The soldier had nothing now—no monsters on his field, and nothing else he could use to defend himself. All he had was 3700 LP and, from what Shingo could tell, a deep desire to run. But running led straight to Action Cards when Action Fields were brought into play—and he knew from personal experience that the most dangerous Duelists to face were those who felt trapped in a corner. So he couldn't take any chances—he had to strike now.

The soldier coughed—winded, but still dry. He hadn't lost that much LP that it hurt to even breathe. But he seemed resigned to his fate—no, that wasn't right, Shingo thought. Even from here, he could see the mad smirk twisting across the man's mouth. He could only imagine what sort of insanity lurked in his eyes, hidden under that helm.

"This … changes nothing," the soldier was saying. He couldn't have been older than eighteen. "Finish me off, then. It will do you little good. I know what sort of Action Card you found. I know you're ready right now to use it."

He stood up straight. "But I am Ædonai," he declared. "I am one amongst many. _Unum in multis_. We are Ædonai! We are many—together! _Multi in unum_! What we do here today is only the first step of—!"

Shingo didn't even bat an eye at the strange word. It wasn't where his head was at right now. "Okay—you know what? You're giving me a headache screaming that nonsense," he shot back, not even caring that the soldier was ranting and raving over him. "I was planning on leaving you in enough shape to actually _talk_ , but if that's what you're going to sound like, then I don't think there's anything left to say!

"So! _Abyss Actor – Wild Hope!_ " he cried. "Attack his Life Points directly! And if I follow up with the Action Spell: _Wonder Chance_ "—he slipped the card he'd found in all that ice inside his Duel Disk—"I can target a monster I control, and make it attack once again—which means you're _finished_! NOW!"

 _Wild Hope_ withdrew both of its guns from its holsters, twirling them round his fingers in the elaborate dance of a classic gunslinger. Three seconds later— _BLAM_ — _BLAM_ —it had moved like lightning, drilling two rounds right through the soldier, still boasting at the top of his lungs about whatever the Ædonai were and why they were here, why they would win … Shingo wasn't really listening. He didn't really care anymore.

But a moment later, he recoiled—the soldier's toppling body, his LP now at zero, was glowing with purple light. Shingo realized what it was just before he scrabbled backwards, forcing Kakimoto and the girl back with him—

 _FLASH_.

Then dark purple became bright blue, and all was quiet once more.

Shingo exhaled a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. It came out as a giant cloud of white vapor in the cold stillness of this Action Field.

"Ugh … Sawatari?"

Kakimoto was stirring. It looked as though he'd been momentarily knocked unconscious at some point in the Duel without Shingo's noticing. His eyes were slightly out of focus, and blood trickled from an angry bruise on his brow.

"Kakimoto—are you all right?" Instantly Sawatari was on him, daubing the sleeve of his blazer gingerly against the wound. The blood stained, and he knew he'd have to get his shirt dry-cleaned— _again_ —but he didn't care. He was just glad his friend was all right.

Kakimoto barely managed a nod. "What … happened?" He sounded as concussed as he looked.

"Hah … I won." It took Shingo a long time to realize what he'd just said. "I won! I finally won!" _Without anyone else's help_ , he added in his head, but who was going to care about that? He'd just taken out two _Chaos Giants_ —two of the strongest Duel Monsters he'd ever seen in his career—by himself!

"Wait till I tell Yamabe and Ootomo about this!" he crowed to Kakimoto. "They won't believe their ears!"

But his friend didn't answer. His eyes were more in focus now, but they were looking past Sawatari—then over his shoulder, off to his right. Shingo turned around.

The little girl he'd been protecting was setting off down the road, duffel bag in hand—and apparently unconcerned about the boys' current plight. "Hey—where do you think you're going?" Shingo demanded. "It's not safe to be out here alone! These soldiers aren't as easy to take down as I made it look, you know!"

She stopped, looked at him. "But I'm not out here alone," she said innocently, looking at Shingo as if that explained everything. Her eyes, he just now saw, were as brilliantly green as her hair.

"Besides," the girl went on, "you have more friends out here to protect than I do."

Shingo frowned. "And what's that supposed to m—"

He broke off. The girl was pointing with the hand that wasn't clutching her duffel, straight down the road.

Straight at the three _Chaos Giants_ coming _right towards them_ —and the very familiar Duelists they were chasing.

* * *

Ootomo knew he was doing Shingo's costume a great disservice by running away at the first _Chaos Giant_ that had been Summoned in his Duel. The soldiers hadn't wasted any time whatsoever in bringing their strongest monsters to the field—and damaging him in the process. Under the circumstances, he supposed he was grateful to still be alive; 2200 LP wasn't bad—it could be worse, considering the strength and abilities of the monsters pursuing him. He'd even found an Action Card that he'd thought might be able to help him—assuming he could find the right time to use it, and in a way to keep it from helping his opponent as well.

But _Neo New Ootomo_ wasn't supposed to just be _running!_ he thought indignantly. And truth be told, he wasn't _just_ running—he was fleeing to safety, and for more the sake of Yamabe than his own. The ice sector wasn't something you could just run across, and Yamabe had found that out to his cost only minutes ago when he'd slipped and fallen right on his hip. The _pop_ that had followed hadn't just come from the ice cracking under his body.

So now here they were, Ootomo going as fast as he could while still supporting Yamabe's limp form piggyback over his shoulders. It had slowed him down greatly in retreating—but he was not retreating alone—

"HEY!"

Ootomo nearly injured his own hip, so quickly had he skidded to a halt—and Yamabe's extra weight meant he came within inches of overbalancing and planting his face right on an icy road. Hearing your best friend in the midst of a crisis tended to make you do that. So did hearing your best friend sound hopping mad.

And Shingo, true to form, was indeed hopping mad—literally. " _Who do you think you are, wearing my clothes—huh, Ootomo?!_ " he bellowed, jumping up and down as if that would make his voice any louder. "I told you before—it's specially tailored to _me and me alone!_ You'll pop the seams, running around in that!"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time!" Ootomo protested. "I wanted to go out swinging! I wanted to be a Duelist you could be proud of, Sawatari- _san_ —"

"Borrowing my old Deck is one thing, but borrowing my old clothes is another!" Shingo blasted back at him.

"—and _Neo New Ootomo_ does not disappoint his friends!" finished Ootomo, crossing his arms in finality.

There was a long beat. " _Neo New Ootomo_ needs to look in a mirror," said a voice he didn't recognize.

Ootomo looked around before he saw a green-haired girl next to Sawatari. She wasn't even a teenager, which surprised him—and what on earth was she wearing? Those clothes weren't nearly enough to keep her warm in this Action Field! Those shoes might as well be socks—she'd get frostbite in those!

Yet the girl didn't even look bothered by the chill in the air. "You look ridiculous," she huffed, crossing her arms.

"Like I'm going to take lip from a girl in a leotard!" Ootomo shot back. "You want to show respect! This costume belongs to Sawatari Shingo!" Then, just as an afterthought, "It's _historically accurate_ ," he added with a sniff.

The girl looked to Shingo, then back to Ootomo. "More like a historical _accident_ ," she said disdainfully. "At least _my_ costume actually does something besides make me look pretty!"

Ootomo felt his eye begin to twitch. "That does it," he growled. "You want to see what New New Ootomo can do?! All right—DRAW!"

He spun round a full hundred and eighty degrees, facing the trio of soldiers who'd been pursuing him all this way. He flicked his fingers, turning the card in his hand so he could see—

 _Perfect!_ "Because I control no monsters, I can activate the Spell Card: _Yōsenjū Divine Oroshi_!" Ootomo crowed, showing it to the soldiers—just to rub it in—before he placed it in his Duel Disk. "I place 1 _Yōsenjū Sarenshinchū_ and _Yōsenjū Urenshinchū_ each from my Deck into my Pendulum Zones, and destroy them during the End Phase!"

Shingo was heard to mutter, "Wha—so that thing lets him set the Pendulum Scale with just _one_ card?! Where was _that_ when I needed it against Yūya that one time?!"

A muffled "ouch!" told Ootomo that the girl had just elbowed Shingo right in the leg. He paid the exchange little more attention than that, though, as the skies above him had already begun to swirl with an eerie wind. Then— _BOOM_ —a giant _torī_ gate, carved from solid stone and bearing two roughly hewn masks of different colors and faces upon their pillars, dropped from the heavens with enough force to shatter the icy field, and the road beneath it.

" _Urenshinchū's_ Pendulum Effect!" Ootomo went on, gesturing to the red, tusked _onī_ mask behind and to his left. "If I have another _Yōsenju_ card in my Pendulum Zone, I can make its Scale become 11 until the end of the turn! And _that_ ," he added, as the winds around him howled louder and louder, "lets me **_PENDULUM SUMMON!_** "

The flurries of snow that had heretofore been lazily stirring in the air now began to multiply, tossed about from the massive drifts lining the road, and turning the street into ground zero of a veritable blizzard. Ootomo bit his lip, accepting the sudden chill in his body, letting the passion of Dueling heat him from the inside like a furnace—

"First! _Yōsenju Tsujikirikaze_ and _Yōsenju Magatsusenran_!" he shouted. Twin tornadoes sliced from the skies and alighting in front of him, revealing a duo of weasel-like figures so unlike each other as to be practically day and night. One was lean, white-furred and calm, one paw upon the _katana_ thrust into its sash in a _battōjutsu_ -ready stance (Level 4: _ATK 1000_ /DEF 0); the other was almost sable in color, and far more ferocious-looking (Level 6: _ATK 2000_ /DEF 100). The beaded necklace it wore thrashed about its chest as it bayed at the still-swirling skies, revealing ripping fangs that looked only slightly less menacing than the blade it brandished at the soldiers—

 **"** **And now, O wind-clad chiefs of phantoms!"** Ootomo chanted. **"With your raging cloaks, gouge these lands!"**

The skies, once bluish-gray before the blizzard had blown up around the Duel, had now taken on dual, equally menacing shades of red and green. The wind shrieked around the soldiers, amplified by the smothering snow and ice until it formed a wailing dirge:

 **"** **Come forth!"** Ootomo brought his hands together. **"** ** _Mayōsenjū Daibakaze_** **!** ** _Mayōsenjū Hitotsumenomuraji_** **!"**

 _WHOOSH_.

How the stone pillars of his Pendulum Scale didn't sunder was a mystery—and yet the two masses of red and green light that had fallen like meteors had landed atop their summits without even making a sound. Ootomo, however, knew better; every monster in his Deck was modeled from the _kamaitachi_ of legend—the spirits of the very winds themselves—and in no way was this more evident than in how the two monsters behind him had effortlessly dispelled the blizzard just by emerging into existence.

He saw them in the corner of each eye, growling and baring their fangs at the _Chaos Giants_ , who had been forced to hunker down to avoid being blown away, such was the strength of the winds they were generating from their bodies. To his right was the verdant _Daibakaze_ (Level 10: _ATK 3000_ /DEF 300), snarling and streamlining its flaming fur with every second that passed, while the crimson _Hitotsumenomuraji_ thrashed this way and that to his left (Level 10: _ATK 2000_ /DEF 3000) as if chained by some invisible force, but knowing full well its release was nigh.

"Because _Daibakaze_ and _Hitotsumenomuraji_ were Special Summoned, I can activate their effects!" said Ootomo triumphantly. "By targeting a combined total of three cards on the field—two with _Daibakaze_ , and a third with _Hitotsumenomuraji_ —I can return each target to the hand! So I'll target all three _Chaos Giants_ on the field! GO!"

At his command, the two living wind monsters seemed to turn translucent for a single second—as if the winds that formed them had intensified so suddenly, and with such power, that whatever force had bound them in this single form was momentarily dispelled. In that moment, incredible winds had ripped forth from their bodies, hurtling straight for the gargantuan machines that faced them in less time than it took to draw breath.

They didn't have a chance; the twin gales scattered them all as if they were little more than tin toys, casting them into the air and past the horizon. "Next, I activate _Tsujikirikaze's_ effect, and target a _Yōsenjū_ monster on my field. Then"—p _ause for drama_ , Ootomo thought—"I can make that target gain 1000 ATK until the end of the turn! So I target _Hitotsumenomuraji_!" A bit of swordplay from _Tsujikirikaze_ brought its blade to bear directly on the scarlet beast; moments later, its point gauge had risen to 3000—point for point the evil twin of _Daibakaze_.

Ootomo decided then that the time was right to play his secret weapon. "And now," he grinned, "I'll activate the Action Card I found earlier!" He conveniently neglected to mention that he'd only found it when, in his haste to flee, he'd brushed against a piece of ice on the road out of sheer chance. "It's a little something called _Starlight Up_ —and by playing it, every monster on the field gains 100 ATK times its own Level!"

 _Magatsusenran_ and _Tsujikirikaze_ leveled their own blades at the soldiers—the lead of whom seemed to realize exactly how much trouble he was in. For their ATK gauges had increased to 2600 and 1400—and he, apparently, could do math. It was _Daibakaze_ and _Hitotsumenomuraji_ , however, that commanded his subordinates' attention: both wind demons had thrown their heads back and let fly with yowling roars that chilled the spine much more than their 4000 ATK ever could. They too, apparently, could do math.

So could Ootomo—surprisingly—but this wasn't to say he'd known exactly what he was doing. In his haste to flee, he'd forgotten that the Action Card he'd found wouldn't have worked on _Chaos Giants_ anyway—even if he'd been worried that it would have increased their ATK as well. But he didn't want to take the chance that something even bigger—if such cards existed—might have been waiting for him if those monsters had been dealt with. Fortunately, no such threat had appeared, and once he was sure that his opponents' fields had been cleared, he'd acted.

So—"Battle Phase!" Ootomo cried. " _Tsujikirikaze_! _Magatsusenran_! Pick a target—any target! Attack directly!"

He didn't need to tell them twice; the two weasels had rushed forward before he could even think of turning to run. There was a flash of steel—and then another—and suddenly both monsters were ten feet behind the lead soldier instead of being ten feet _in front of Ootomo_ , where they'd been just a second ago. There was no other indication that the soldier had been struck save for the LP gauge squealing inside his Duel Disk—and as if this had been his death knell, the soldier collapsed face first on the ground and did not stir.

Ootomo gestured to his remaining two monsters. He didn't say anything—he just pointed at them, and then at the remaining soldiers. _Daibakaze_ and _Hitotsumenomuraji_ got the idea well enough, though, and they vanished into the skies with even greater alacrity than ever. But the winds that swirled around them did not disappear—nor were they actually swirling; they were blowing at Ootomo's back now, louder and faster and more biting than any north wind.

He smirked. "I'd bail if I were you, boys." There was no need to raise his voice—not yet. But it wasn't as though his warning would have helped the soldiers; the skies were already turning an ugly mixture of reddish-green.

For them, it was already far too late.

Among all the atmospheric phenomena that affect the planet, few of them are as quick, wide-ranging, and altogether destructive as a _derecho_. Cloaked under the guise of a particularly severe thunderstorm, these windstorms seem to strike within minutes of formation, leaving almost as quickly as they came. But in those scant minutes, road signs can be twisted as if worked in a hot forge. Trees can be felled with the ease of a giant plucking it out of the ground. Any dwelling that does not take measures to protect itself will be severely damaged—or swept away outright. And while _derechos_ do not possess the quickness and precision of lightning or a tornado, nor the rawness and dread of an earthquake or tsunami, the image of cars and homes being tossed and twisted asunder by the force of nothing but air carries a force unique to itself—a feeling of powerlessness against Nature and her many displays of strength, and a prayer that she never learn to directly focus such strength upon a target of her choosing.

In other words, the same exact thing Ootomo had done just now.

Or, put more succinctly still:

 _WHAM_.

In a single astonishing instant, the bluish-white wastelands of _Wonder Quartet's_ ice sector had turned into a world-consuming vortex of red and green—endlessly intertwined, endlessly rushing forward with the otherworldly howl of a possessed freight train. The blizzard that had been swirling around the Duel was carried with it, and all manner of ice and snow—from the smallest flakes and icicles to the flash-frozen sheets that covered whole vehicles and office buildings—swiftly followed in its wake. The luckless soldiers were right in the thick of it, and Ootomo barely saw them over the crook of his elbow that protected his eyes and face: they were suspended in midair, the winds slicing at their uniforms and the bodies underneath _ad infinitum_.

He didn't need to hear the shriek of their LP gauges being depleted to know that he'd won. But it didn't matter whether he did or not; no sooner did the winds begin to die down than little rectangles of light had appeared on their arms—on the Duel Disks they wore, and the strange devices that they wore on their other arm as well—

Ootomo had hunkered down to protect himself and Yamabe, still draped over his shoulders like the heaviest cloak in the world, and it was perhaps this added weight anchoring him to the field that saved him from being carried away as well. But he still had to cover his face from the two-headed onslaught of _Daibakaze_ and _Hitotsumenomuraji_ , which meant that he was aware of only a trio of purple flashes, and a hint of flickering blue from each one. Then—too quickly to be natural in any way—the windstorm was over, and at last he lowered his arm to survey the results.

He gasped—he could not help himself. His monsters' attacks had left furrows in the ice from the sheer speed at which they'd moved. It looked as though someone had drilled through the earth, but flush against the icy road, obliterating the wintry conditions in a ten-foot-wide stripe that extended straight out from Ootomo, for as far as his eyes could see. No trace was left of his opponents, save for the bus-sized footprints of their _Chaos Giants_.

Ootomo choked out his next words through a thundering heart. "My Deck … did that?"

Sawatari Shingo was too awed at the destruction wrought by the _Yōsenjūs_ he'd once wielded to care about much else. But eventually his senses caught up with him, and he'd rounded upon Ootomo with a sudden twitch in his eye.

"What do you mean, _your_ Deck?" he said testily, feeling a vein throb in his brow. "Friendly reminder who had that Deck commissioned in the first place, Ootomo! At least give credit where credit is due!"

But all of a sudden, he was grinning. Shingo couldn't be mad at his friend forever. After all, had it not been _his_ genius that had convinced Ootomo—and Yamabe and Kakimoto with him—to study under his wing and become formidable Duelists in their own right? What had happened here was merely the result of his efforts bearing fruit!

Kakimoto was still groggy; the tumult of that last attack hadn't worked wonders on his ability to stay conscious. But the faint little smile Shingo saw gracing his lips told him everything: he was just as proud of Ootomo as the rest of them—and not a little bit jealous, perhaps, that he alone of them had had the chance to prove themselves in combat.

Only the nameless girl seemed disappointed. "Phooey," she muttered, hands on hips. "I didn't even get a turn."

Shingo was about to comment on how she ought to be happy that she was still alive after being pursued by five Chaos Giants, but then his Duel Disk chimed—someone was calling him.

He recognized the code prefix immediately, and answered the call more quickly still. "H-headmistress Himika!"

That was all he was able to stammer out before Himika's voice made his surroundings much more chilly than they already were. "Sawatari," she said. "I was able to tap into the security cameras inside the RSV generators near your position. I saw the Duels that you and Ootomo put on against these invaders."

There was a pause. "I hope you've all learned your lesson."

Shingo flashed a winning smile. "Well, you can't run away from everything," he said. "Sometimes, you've just got to stand and fight for what you believe in. And for me, that's my friends."

"Friends who have you to thank for the scrapes they themselves escaped," Himika said coolly, wiping the smile right off Shingo's face, "and could have avoided outright if they had just listened and taken shelter rather than try to be a hero. We're not fighting Academia here—these are professionals. And they don't _discriminate by age_."

Shingo gulped as the connotations sank in. "So do Maiami City a favor and _pick your battles_ next time, won't you? If your luck were to suddenly run out, I would … _not relish_ having to break the bad news to your father."

He found it impossible to resist nodding. "Y-yes, Headmistress."

"Good." An instant later, Himika was all business. "I need all four of you to take shelter _now_. The invaders are making for the outskirts of Maiami City in three separate directions. One of the paths they are taking is due to pass your position in minutes. If they see you, they won't bother Dueling you next time."

"They're heading away from the city?" Shingo frowned. "Well, then, aren't they retreating?" he asked hopefully. "Doesn't that mean we're winning?"

He knew from the length of the pause that he'd said the wrong thing. "No," said Himika. "No, they are not."

Before Shingo could react, the screen of his Duel Disk flared to life, and several different videos began to play at once. He saw Gongenzaka staring down at a huddled soldier, whom he'd obviously just beaten; no less than four sprawled on the airport tarmac below a victorious Kurosaki, and a group of five more soldiers in what looked like the mall, vanquished by Sora— _Sora, of all people!_ he thought with jealousy.

Suddenly, taking out two _Chaos Giants_ by himself didn't seem like something worth bragging about.

But he soon became distracted by something else completely: the soldiers had pressed something on the devices they wore on their right wrists. Their lips were moving, shouting something Shingo couldn't make out—but it didn't matter: seconds later, those devices were glowing purple—and so were they—

 _FLASH_.

His heart skipped a beat: _all ten of those soldiers had sealed themselves into cards_. What happened next only made him more confused—the cards of the soldiers glowed brilliant blue, and disappeared into thin air.

"They _teleported away_ after sealing themselves into cards?" he murmured in wonderment.

"Precisely." Shingo jumped—he'd forgotten he was still on the line with Himika. "Why they would do such a thing is only one question I have. But a more pressing one must be answered: if our soldiers are indeed from the Fusion Dimension, as they appear to be … and if we are indeed winning the fight against them to the point they have sounded a retreat, as you say … then _why are they not fleeing back to the Fusion Dimension?_ "

Shingo considered this—but only for a moment: that was all the time he had before a sudden _BOOM_ split the skies in twain and left him momentarily deaf.

He picked himself up from the Solid Vision ice, scrabbling to his feet with difficulty. "What in the name of—?!"

 _BOOM_.

This time he saw it: a golden missile of light had streaked through the silver-gray skies, slicing through the overcast clouds effortlessly before disappearing with the speed of a jet fighter.

 _What the hell?!_ "Himika? Did you see that?!"

"See wh—" But a burst of static was all that answered him: the line had suddenly cut off. At that exact moment, a third, much quieter BOOM had reached Shingo's ears—as if something in the distance had suddenly exploded.

Even before he'd traced a finger in the sky, plotting the missile's likely course and destination, Shingo felt his heart sinking in his breast. Even as his calculations told him what he already knew, he could feel the dread seeping into his bones. There could be no doubt, he knew: those soldiers hadn't been retreating at all—they'd been _regrouping_.

All at once, the magnitude of this invasion hit Sawatari Shingo like a ton of bricks. The _Chaos Giants_ had only been a plot to trick the Lancers—to catch them out of position, far too late to respond to the real attack. He, his cohorts, and perhaps all of Maiami City, had never been the target—their true focus had been on the Leo Duel School itself.

And these bastards had gone through all this effort, he'd grimly realized, to start _bombing the place to smithereens_.


	6. V

V

To be mentioned in the same breath as the name of a military commander—and favorably so, more to the point—is something many Duelists do not expect to hear in their lives. The younger ones are not so versed in history, and while the older crowds may enjoy a brief vision of grandeur, the sheer diversity in _Duel Monsters_ largely makes them scoff. Their monsters are dragons and machines, fairies and beasts—not _soldiers!_ And yet, many overlook the notion that simply possessing a Deck of such monsters implies they command them as thoroughly as any soldier—that every Spell cast is as good as a gun in their hands, and every Trap Set is an example of their cunning in battle.

Eventually—inevitably—this sets up two crucial questions when playing the game: is it more sensible to Set a Trap against an enemy monster, or to set a trap against an enemy Duelist?

And if this question is answered, at what point does the game cease to be a _game_ —and evolve into a full-scale war?

Attempts have been made in the past—with varying degrees of success and ignominy—to use underhanded tactics in an attempt to ensure victory by entrapping a Duelist, rather than merely beating one. From those attempts, a sort of guidebook has emerged to offer instructions on how best to use foreign elements—that is to say, outside the game itself—to claim victory in ways no _Duel Monsters_ card ever could. Of all the most effective and successful examples listed in this guidebook, a number of common denominators can quickly be seen.

First: a worm on a hook that no Duelist can turn down the chance to gobble up. For best results, it is recommended to advertise a supposedly invincible Duel Monster, with near-insurmountable power, almost total immunity to card effects, and a reputation for being used to decimate entire cities with impunity. Add more such monsters as needed.

Secondly: a location that, once galvanized by the threat of previous war, has sat and gathered rust in the stillness of peace. This location should be of large enough size that it is, for all intents and purposes, self-sufficient, and enough so that if any outlying locations—say, those that can only be accessed by special corridors that stretch through the Dimensions—suddenly choose that moment to go dark, and almost all travel to and from those locations to suddenly cease, those in charge will be too late to react to the hand reaching for its throat … until the fingers start to _crush_.

The location should also, for this reason, belong to someone not affiliated with you or anyone you hold dear in your heart. Suffice to say that the location of any decent Duelist trap is not chosen for its hardiness—or its longevity.

Thirdly: because all decent Duelist traps are automatically assumed to include massive collateral damage and severe risk to life and limb, it is therefore best to remain out of reach of any potential retaliation—ideally, within one of the Dimensions that has so conveniently been cut off from conventional outside contact—and that it is also best to place stand-ins where necessary. For instance: an army that can appear out of the blue, with neither advance warning nor provocation. That such an army commands of the very same Duel Monsters that are being used as aforementioned bait might be considered a masterstroke by the guidebook's anonymous author, as it solidifies the certainty that any Duelist who takes up arms and cards to fight ensures they enter the kill zone of their own free will.

Even those few who might see through the trap will be ensnared all of the same—indeed, in some cases, they might even trigger it deliberately. Many Duelists, after all, have a sense of honor about them—one perhaps not unjustified by the age-old, but no less childish, confident declaration of _my-Deck-is-better-than-yours_.

But as every trap has a mechanism that must be properly tested, maintained, and oiled to properly function, so too must its more human elements be rigorously drilled, and conditioned to see that the trap is sprung—even if it should mean to fight until the bitter end. Enter, then, the fourth critical element of an effective Duelist trap: a nationalistic, "us versus them" mentality that has been deliberately introduced into the hearts and minds of those human elements. This carefully constructed offshoot of zeal and patriotic pride, when ingrained into the hearts and minds of every willing participant, creates a fervor so fiery that any one of them would be willing to use that fire to burn an entire city to the ground—and themselves along with it if need be—if it meant the success of their mission.

What was happening right now in Maiami City was not the result of a textbook Duelist trap. It was an excellent one, to be sure—but not textbook _per se_. The events unfolding on its streets went far beyond the scope of the literature that had inspired them. For this metaphorical guidebook had been conceived in the days of more honorable combat: one army, one Duelist, one Deck, one Duel Monster against another of equal strength.

Nobody in living memory had ever attempted to ensnare _more than one_ Duelist—let alone an entire city of them.

Until an entire company of Dueling soldiers had appeared out of thin air, and turned a quiet summer upside down.

* * *

_Leo Duel School_

Japanese building codes are among the most stringent in the world—comparable in many ways to those of the west coast of the United States, particularly in California. They have to be, since both locations are subjected to the dangers of earthquakes and tsunamis, and so must be ready for them at a moment's notice. If one were to compare the two, however, the edge would go to Japan—they had poured incredible amounts of _yen_ into updating older buildings to be more resistant to seismic events, and almost as much into constructing new buildings that were just as sturdy, if not more so. Solid construction was phased out in favor of controlling the level of vibrations that shook the building, among other such technologies—and it was perhaps this that saved LDS from toppling then and there.

But the floors still shook from the vibrations dispersed throughout the building. Many people had fallen to the floor, shouting incoherently. Things were no different in the headmistress' office: technicians were babbling in a sea of noise, half of them sprawled on the floor in various states of surprise and pain. Nakajima had only just now picked himself up; there was a cut on his brow and a crack on his glasses, but otherwise he was unharmed.

"Himika- _san_ —are you okay?" he yelled out.

She was, but only physically. The principal of LDS was so shocked at the salvo that had shaken her office, she'd forgotten to be angry. She could hardly believe it: _someone had opened fire on her school_.

"D-damage report," she coughed out, still winded.

One of the few technicians who'd recovered by then had fixed his eyes on the tablet in his hand. "Direct hit to the seventeenth floor!" he called back in reply. "We have exposure on floors sixteen through nineteen, sections thirty-six through thirty-eight! Mostly office space, already fully evacuated," he added, as if that might appease Himika.

It didn't.

 _BOOM_. The building shook again. Himika heard the noise of smashing glass and twisting metal from below her.

"Direct hit to level twenty-two," she heard from someone to her left, "sections five through eight." There was a silent moment of mingled confusion and relief. " … Still no casualties."

By now, the shock was starting to wear off; Himika was becoming just as confused as everyone else in the room. She, they, and everyone else who worked in LDS was well aware that the building's most valuable secrets were underground—safe from any land-based attack. So why—?

It hit her almost at the same time as a third BOOM rumbled the school. This one was louder, much more violent—it sounded like it had happened outside the room.

"Twenty-third floor, sections thirty-two through thirty-five!" The technician swore. "That one just grazed us—"

But Himika was already on her feet. "Enact guard protocol seventeen at once!" she ordered. "I want all our remaining security to converge on those access points _immediately!_ " Teeth gnashed in her mouth. "Those were just openings—breaches in the wall," she growled. "They mean to flush us out—like hunting quail."

There was a long silence. "It's confirmed," another technician said. "Runners are reporting new contacts—dozens of them. They're flying in from three different directions—they're heading straight for LDS!"

Himika spun round, looking out her window. Instantly her keen eyes saw them—small dots in the sky, but rapidly growing larger. She tapped at the edge of the window, feeling for the interactive circuits that lined the glass—and a moment later, a section of the viewport had expanded, enhancing and magnifying those dots into a number of winged machines—each as decrepit and rusty-looking as she'd been fearing.

 _Antique Gear_ Duel Monsters—every one of them. And astride each of them was a silver-helmed soldier with a Duel Disk on one arm—and a familiar-looking device on the other.

"The artillery fire appears to be coming from their direction as well," the technician went on, bringing Himika back into reality. "They've begun shelling other targets in the city—three buildings have suffered damage in the financial sector, and six residences have been destroyed to the north. Casualties … unknown."

Himika pursed her lips. "Triangulate their exact point of origin—and transmit them to the LID at once."

Silence. Nobody moved a muscle. "You heard me," hissed the headmistress. "The Lancers are too far away—that was the purpose of the _Chaos Giants_ , to spread us out too far and open us up to another assault! And the other rank-and-files they sent to back them up were meant to divide the authorities' response as well! But this army doesn't know we still have _another_ group of Lancers—one that can take the offensive to them!"

"But … what about us?" a man at the far corner of the room ventured to ask. "Aren't we a higher-priority target?"

Himika fixed him with a glare. "One building—or a whole city full of them?" she returned. "We can wait—and the guard protocol will buy us some time. But those artillery positions need to be taken out _yesterday_!"

The man nodded. "At once." And his fingers began to fly over the keyboard.

Nakajima leaned in close to Himika. "It occurs to me," he said _sotto voce_ , "that we don't fully understand _why_ they're attacking. How do we know that both the Lancers and the LID won't divert all their attention from us?"

Himika didn't. But … "I'm counting on them to know which target to engage," she said.

Nakajima decided not to ask just who "them" was supposed to be. "And what about guard protocol seventeen?" he inquired. "You and I both know that it—that _she_ won't be ready immediately. What do we do until then?"

The headmistress' stare focused on his left arm. "Your Duel Disk's been repaired?"

It sounded like more of a question than Nakajima knew it was. He nodded. "Good. You may need to use it."

Himika stood then, and inflated her lungs just a little. " _Arm yourselves!_ " she shouted. "Be ready for close-quarters combat as soon as possible! And if you have no other choice," she added, narrowing her eyes, "if your life is in danger … aim to kill."

She flared her nostrils. "That's an order. Carry it out."

* * *

Sawatari Shingo nearly jumped out of his skin. The sound of a Duel Disk activating hadn't come from him or any of his friends. And the girl was still within his vision enough that he knew she hadn't ignited hers either—she hadn't even put one on her arm. It had come—

He whirled around— _from behind_ —

"Took me … long enough."

The soldier was in a bad way: his right arm clutched at a wound in his side that was red with blood. His steps were uneven, and he was slightly hunched over to staunch his injury further still. But he was alive, and he was walking.

Straight for Shingo.

"Tracked you down," he murmured. "Not easy. Stim-packs"—he waggled the device on his right arm—"injected into the bloodstream. Got me on my feet soon enough."

He grinned lopsidedly. "I'll even the score … for the sake of my teammate," he growled. It sounded as though he was in great pain. "It's the least I could repay you … for flinging me into that car … "

Shingo bit back a curse. He wasn't ready to fight one of these soldiers a second time—he wouldn't fare so lucky as he had before. But to his surprise, he felt a tiny hand nudge him aside.

The girl in the green leotard was stepping forward, unzipping her duffel bag and reaching inside. "Why don't you sit this one out?" she asked. "You've done enough for one day. I'm pretty sure one of you said I could have the next crack at these guys anyway."

Her words were surprisingly forceful one for a girl who'd just hit puberty, Shingo thought. "You're crazy," he said, feeling numb with shock—and then quite foolish for thinking that was all he could have said. "Do you have any idea what sort of Decks these guys have? You know how strong they are?"

The girl shrugged at this. "Oh yeah," she replied nonchalantly, fishing out a light brown Duel Disk and clipping it to her left arm. "You know what else? I don't really care. As far as my Deck is concerned, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. And those _Chaos Giants_ are pretty darned big. Besides—"

She rolled her bare arms, did a small pirouette—and her Duel Disk sprouted a fiery orange blade right as she spun round to face the soldier. "Besides," she said again, "I've been standing still for way too long. I need to move, or I get all twitchy inside. And when I get all twitchy inside"—she brought the Disk to her chest—"I need to _cut loose_."

The girl pulled at her bun, adjusting the band that kept it together until it had unfurled into a ponytail that was even more brilliantly orange than the blade of her Duel Disk. "So how about it?" she cried at the soldier. "Let's dance!"

Shingo had seen serrated knives that looked less nasty than the injured soldier's smile. This girl had more pep in her spirit than most boys above his age group—but that wasn't the same thing as winning. A wounded animal, he knew, was always the most dangerous one to face. His maxim was proven right almost instantly.

"DUEL!" With a speed that belied his condition, the soldier had drawn his five cards first. "Double Continuous Spell, activate: _Antique Gear Fortress_ and _Antique Gear Castle_!" he bellowed, slapping a pair of cards on his blade.

Without warning, the landscape changed; the ice was breaking apart from underground, its shards melting in the fires and black smoke that had suddenly leaped up. Dozens of gears, as big around as a house and as thick as a car was wide, erupted from the earth as suddenly as the wintry weather had vanished. Amidst the upheaval rose an enormous mass of earth and iron in the distance, the size of a small mountain—all carved up into the shape of many immense gears. Steel turrets trained on random targets, firing indiscriminately at whatever they saw, and the sound of metal against stone soon deafened the air.

" _Antique Gear Fortress'_ effect," sneered the soldier. He was recovering faster now; the thrill of the Duel seemed to have reinvigorated his body. "While I control it, you can't respond to my _Antique Gear_ cards or effects—and any _Antique Gear_ monsters I control cannot be targeted or destroyed by your card effects during the turn they were Summoned!

"I'll follow that up with another Spell: _Antique Gear Catapult_!" he hissed, sliding another card onto his Duel Disk. "By destroying a card I control, I can Special Summon an _Antique Gear_ monster from my Deck—regardless of its Summoning conditions! I target my _Fortress_ "—something went _KABOOM_ inside the landmass in question, bursting it asunder and sending metal and stone flying everywhere—"and Special Summon _Antique Gear Wyvern_!"

High above them, Shingo saw something arcing from the collapsing _Fortress_ and into the sky, but growing brighter and brighter like an incoming meteor. Then that meteor suddenly sprouted two metallic wings, pitted and corroded with age, and unfolded into a dragon-like creature big enough for a fully-grown human to sit astride its back (Level 4: _ATK 1700_ /DEF 1200).

" _Antique Gear Castle's_ effect," grunted the soldier, clutching his hand to his chest. "Every _Antique Gear_ monster I control gains 300 ATK! And then"—he gestured to his monster, now roaring as if reveling in its new 2000 ATK—"if my _Wyvern_ is Special Summoned, I can activate its effect: in exchange for not Setting any cards for the rest of the turn, I can add 1 _Antique Gear_ card from my Deck to my hand!"

He did so. "Furthermore, because my _Fortress_ was destroyed in my Spell and Trap Zone, I can use its _second_ effect to Special Summon another _Antique Gear_ from my hand or Graveyard! So from my hand, I'll Special Summon _Antique Gear Hydra_!"

Shingo felt a shadow fall across his face. Instinctively he looked up, and blanched—dozens of monsters, each of them looking rather like the _Wyvern_ that was staring across the girl even now, were streaking across the sky. If their course was correct, they were heading straight for LDS. The intent behind the artillery was immediately explained.

The source of that shadow, however, dispelled his thoughts quickly: four creaking heads—one red, one yellow, one blue, a fourth attached to the tail instead of the torso, and each as impossibly corroded as the other—roared in four-part discord, forcing Shingo to clap his hands to his ears as the sound waves, buoyed by the clawed wings on either side of the multi-headed mechanical dragon (Level 7: _ATK 2700 »_ _ **3000**_ /DEF 1700), assaulted his senses.

Through it all, the girl hadn't moved. She looked bored with the Duel already, Shingo thought, tapping her feet as if waiting for the soldier to just end his turn. At one point, she'd even moved her left hand hither and thither—like she was manipulating a sock puppet—every time the man opened his mouth to talk. That scared him more than he liked to admit—an overconfident Duelist was, more often than not, one who had already lost.

He did think she was right about one thing, though—with how much she fidgeted, she _really_ didn't like to stay still.

The soldier, for his part, didn't even look insulted at how this girl was treating his presence—in fact, it seemed he was thinking the same thing as Shingo, and was ready to catch this girl off guard.

"Field Spell: _Gear Town's_ effect!"

 _Wait_. Shingo's mind screeched to a halt. _What did he just say?!_

The girl had stopped fidgeting. "A Field Spell?!" she repeated, speaking the same exact words Shingo was thinking. "When did you play one of those?!"

"I never did," sneered the soldier. "It's a terrain program—a subroutine inside my Duel Disk. It activated by itself the moment we started our Duel. Call it a little home-field advantage, for when we take the fight to _you_."

For a full second, Shingo did not breathe. He'd heard some stories about Duelists like this; some élite few that could use Field Spells without actually having to play them. Of all those Duelists, he'd seen a grand total of _one_ for himself—Edo Phoenix, who had been the commander-in-chief of the forces that had destroyed the Xyz Dimension.

 _And yet this man … this lowly rank-and-file soldier … had the same kind of capabilities that_ he _did?_ Shingo thought. _Who the heck_ are _these people?!_

"That sounds a lot like _cheating!_ " the girl retorted. "I know how cards like that work—my friend told me all about them! She's taken on better Duelists than you who cheated with those Field Spells—and she's beaten them, too!"

She might as well have lost her temper at a statue for all that the soldier cared. " _Gear Town's_ effect," he plowed on, "allows _Antique Gear_ monsters to be Advance Summoned by Releasing one monster less than they would otherwise require. So I'll Release my _Wyvern_ to Advance Summon _this_! Come out: _Antique Gear Reactor Dragon!_ "

 _Wyvern's_ body began to glow from within, and it zoomed into the sky as if racing to join its many brethren in their race to LDS. But Shingo had to shield his eyes a moment later: with a quick snap-roll, _Wyvern_ had disintegrated, and the cloud of photonic dust swirled and grew into something that far exceeded its size—

Enormous gray wings, as wide as a jetliner, bloomed either side. A neck and tail, long and segmented, uncurled from the mass. Sparks flew from the many gears bolted into its iron body. No clawed arms or legs emerged with it, only a pair of long struts that crackled with electricity, pumped like lifeblood from the man-sized bulb that adorned its chest (Level 9: _ATK 3000 »_ _ **3300**_ /DEF 3000).

"Let's see how a prissy little girl like you gets through this." The soldier grinned, crossing his arms. "Turn end!"

But the girl was grinning herself. "About time," she said. She didn't even look at the card she'd drawn—there was no fanfare, no recognition. She brought herself to her full height—which, given that she wasn't even a teenager, wasn't saying much to Shingo. Yet there was a fire in her green eyes that seemed to negate the chill of the ice field. And the way she was acting made him wonder if she knew how to beat the soldier before he'd even played a card.

She plucked a card from her hand. "All I need is _this_ , and you're history!" She smacked it hard on her blade. "I activate the Spell Card: _One for One_! With this card, I can send a monster from my hand to the Graveyard, and then Special Summon a Level 1 monster from my hand or Deck! So I'll send my _Gusta Grif_ , and Special Summon the Tuner monster _Gusta Egul_ in Attack Position!"

 _Tuner?_ Shingo tilted his head, watching a green-feathered half-bird, half-lion monster leap out from behind the girl, disintegrate, and reform into a slightly smaller verdant-colored bird (Level 1: _ATK 200_ /DEF 400). So this girl was a Synchro Duelist, he mused. He'd not heard of one so young, though. Not that that was a bad thing, but students of that age and caliber of Dueling prowess were only found in—

He blinked. Could this little girl be an LDS student? He hadn't seen a school pin on her person, and he didn't hang around the Junior classes too much, either. Shingo knew he'd have to start thinking about that in a year's time, as Youth students were expected to tutor the younger pupils and foster a new generation of Dueling. And there was also the possibility that she was a first-year student—but that made the notion of her being a Synchro user seem doubly unreal. Because how would a first-year, he thought, know how to _Synchro_ Summon?

" _Gusta Grif's_ effect!" shouted the girl. "If it's sent from the hand to the Graveyard for any reason, I can Special Summon a _Gusta_ monster from my Deck! So I'll Special Summon _Reeze, Gale of Gusta_ in Attack Position!"

She pirouetted like a dancer, slipping a card from her Deck and onto her Duel Disk before she'd stopped spinning. By the time she had, a monster that could have been her mother had leapt onto the field: she had the same green-and-orange hair, though long and thick enough to divide into thick twin-tails. Her green gaze pierced the chill of the air, and her heavy wooden staff sliced through the remnants with practiced ease (Level 5: _ATK 1900_ /DEF 1400).

 _She's primed herself to Synchro Summon_ , thought Shingo, _and all with just one card_. But a Level 6 couldn't be all that, surely—a Level 7 and a Level 9 were still too much for her to deal with, even as Main Deck monsters.

It appeared the girl thought so, too. "Now I'll Summon _Kamui, Hope of Gusta_ in Attack Position!" she cried, placing another card on her Duel Disk. Instantly a young green-haired boy had swooped next to _Reeze_ , a tan cloak billowing behind him and a staff of his own clutched in his hand (Level 2: _ATK 200_ /DEF 1000).

 _Better_. But Shingo wasn't convinced of this girl's talent just yet. He'd checked his Duel Disk just now, and was stunned to notice that _Kamui_ was a _Reverse_ monster—its effect activated only if it was flipped face-up. And yet she'd … He shook his head. Maybe she just needed a Level 8 that badly.

"And now," smirked the girl, "I'll Tune my Level 1 _Egul_ with my Level 5 _Reeze_!" She reeled off a quick backflip, letting her monsters take the center stage. _Egul_ was already soaring into the air, its wings already beginning to glow, while _Reeze_ had taken a knee to the frozen earth, bowing her head against her staff:

**"** **Soar above the misty valley! Become the prodigy of your people with your newfound power!"**

With one final flap of its wings, _Egul_ disintegrated, its only remnant being the scintillating ring that crashed into the earth where _Reeze_ was kneeling. Her ponytails fluttered to either side—the bands shattered, letting it all flow free—

 **"** **Synchro Summon!"** cried the girl. **"Take flight! Level 6!** ** _Daigusta Sphered_** **!"**

She got to her feet, her gaze now resolute. Little had changed, but there were differences: black and golden bands of armor covered her arms, brow and shoulders, with blue jewels here and there. Her eyes, their depths once bearing the fullness of springtime, had now turned bright red, glittering like polished rubies (Level 6: _ATK 2000_ /DEF 1300).

" _Daigusta Sphered's_ effect!" her Summoner announced, narrowing her eyes. "When it's Synchro Summoned, I can target a _Gusta_ card in my Graveyard and add it to my hand!"

She did so. "And now—Battle Phase!" she cried. " _Kamui_ , attack _Antique Gear Hydra_!"

Shingo's mind, captivated by the Synchro Monster, sputtered to a halt. "Huh?!" _Is she actually insane?! 200 ATK isn't nearly enough to_ —

Too late: _Kamui_ had rushed forward, staff in hand—but _Hydra_ would have been a lot more decrepit than it looked to not see it coming. With one lazy movement, it had thrown back a neck—and swallowed the boy in a single gulp.

The moment of silence that followed immediately told Shingo that something wasn't right. The girl should have lost Life Points by then; while Duel Monsters could draw out their battles if they could, the effects of that battle ought to be felt on the Duelists straightaway. So why—

 _BOOM_. Something had detonated inside _Hydra_ , and all four of its mouths roared in obvious pain. But it was still standing—minus a wing that had been torn off by the explosion within its body. Racing out from that gaping wound, spat out by pure momentum, was _Kamui_ —broken, bleeding, and mortally injured—but alive enough to make a beeline right for the soldier—

 _CRUNCH_.

Shingo cringed—that sounded like a number of bones that the soldier had broken just now. _Kamui_ had been solid enough to send the man sprawling, propelled several meters from the force of the collision, and only just now had it finally disintegrated into its component photons. But Shingo only had eyes for the LP gauge that had appeared over the soldier—and more maddeningly still, at _1200 LP_.

_How in the hell—?!_

" _Daigusta Sphered's_ second effect," smirked the girl. "Any time a _Gusta_ monster battles, whatever battle damage I might take is _reflected_ —right back at _you_!"

Huh?! Shingo's mouth fell open. But even as his mind caught up with his ears, the girl's strategy was beginning to make sense; by Summoning a weaker monster like _Kamui_ , it maximized the damage _Sphered's_ effect could redirect to her opponent. And it worked for any _Gusta_ monster, too— _including_ Sphered _herself_ , he realized with a jolt—

The girl signaled to _Sphered_ , and she twirled her staff, advancing with her toward _Reactor Dragon_ , and the soldier controlling it. "If you haven't noticed by now," she said, "I still have one more monster to attack, and not much you can do to save yourself from its effect. Because I may be ten years old—but that's still old enough to know _math_."

She moved loosely, but fluidly, twirling and twisting like a blade of grass in the wind—fully enthralled to the beat of her own drum. "So can I make a suggestion?" She didn't bother waiting for an answer. "When the sick freak that sent you here wonders why you failed to destroy this city"—she spat the next words with a child's acid fury—"my _home_ "— _Sphered_ tensed up behind her, ready to make a move—"you'd better tell him the truth."

Green eyes blazed with fire. "I'm the Leo Duel School's ace Duelist of the Junior Synchro circuit! I'm Emina Rika—the newest member of the LID! And I am the _prissy little girl_ , " she smirked, "who just _ended_ you."

She crossed her arms. " _Daigusta Sphered_!" The monster crouched, ready to spring for _Reactor Dragon_. "Put him out of his misery— _attack_ Antique Gear Reactor Dragon _!_ "

 _Sphered_ launched herself into the air as though she'd just been fired from a circus cannon, her body twirling and twisting almost as much as the staff in her hand. The jewel set into the wood was glowing with bluish-green light, thrumming with energy—

 _Reactor Dragon_ , however, had seen. Its jaws yawned open, surging forward to meet its prey. _Sphered_ was going too fast to stop—she fell into the maw, and iron teeth snapped shut with a _CLANG_. But bare moments later, a blue burst of light exploded from _Reactor Dragon's_ head, and the Synchro Monster it had attempted to devour only seconds ago catapulted from the wound, her staff still brimming with energy.

The soldier saw this, and knew straightaway that his monster would be too slow to save him. He turned to run—

 _WHACK_.

—a second too slow.

The Solid Vision composing the staff that _Sphered_ had slammed against the luckless man's head sounded as sturdy and unyielding as any oak. A blue energy-flower from its jewel blasted him backwards, and his body left a furrow in the icy ground as his Life Points plummeted to zero. By the time the dust had cleared, not one trace of him was left behind—except for the single card being teleported away, to parts unknown.

All of this had happened too quickly for Shingo to process; he was still reeling from the fresh knowledge of who this girl—Emina Rika—actually was. She wasn't just an ordinary Synchro Duelist or a mere LDS student—she was one of the _LID_ : the section of Lancers formed to root out and defend against any threat to Maiami City from within the Pendulum Dimension—rather than outside of it like the original Lancers. And even though their contribution to the war with Academia had been miniscule at best, Shingo knew they had still amassed a considerable amount of achievements under their belt. The fact that much of their membership was comprised of several top Duelists from the school's various circuits had little to do with those achievements, from what he'd heard; experience as a Duelist could only get you so far when being blasted off buildings and evading gunshots from rogue government agents.

For people like that to even remotely consider taking this little girl as one of their own … Shingo suddenly felt the need to sit down. He quickly regretted that when he felt the frozen earth against the seat of his pants.

His vigorous dance to restore precious body heat to his backside went unnoticed by Rika. Neither Kakimoto nor Yamabe could do more than cry out in consternation; only Ootomo was in any condition or state of mind to assist Shingo. And Rika continued to just stand there, gazing so intently at the jagged gash that served as the only earthly remnant of the soldier she'd vanquished that she wasn't even fidgeting.

Then, suddenly, her Duel Disk chimed. Instantly, she'd deactivated the blade, and brought the device to her ear.

"Tene- _ta-a-a-an_!" The shrill, singsong tone of Rika voice threw Shingo for a loop; it was completely at odds with the reckless preteen he'd known up until now. Immediately, she was a ball of movement once more, rolling her arms, crossing her legs _en pointe_ , and twisting lazily all the while. "Guess who saved Sawatari's butt just now?"

"Wha—you did no such thing!" Shingo felt the vein on his forehead begin to throb again. Within seconds he'd forgotten about his freezing-cold bottom. "If anything, I saved you first, you ungrateful little—"

"Nah—it wasn't me," said Rika, plainly not listening to a word of Shingo's tirade. "It was one of his friends—that Ootomo kid who's always with him. You know they've both taken out more of these weirdo soldiers than I have?"

"Kid?!" Now it was Ootomo's turn to gnash his teeth at the impudent girl. "Where does she get off calling me a _kid_? I've got five years on that pipsqueak, easy—and I'll show it, too, if I have to—"

Sawatari, in an unusual moment of sensibility coming from him, gave his friend a look that he hoped said "button it" as politely as he was able. There was nothing to be gained from whaling the tar out of a little girl—especially if that little girl had the chops to do the same to them in a fair Duel.

" … so yeah, I'm on my way to you now if you want to help me even the score," Rika plowed on to whoever she was speaking to, grinning widely with every word. "Ooh—the bunch that's coming this way? Even better."

She scoffed. " … Yeah, I know that, Tene- _tan_. But I've got a lot to prove to you and Yaiba and Masumi, now that Headmistress Himika's letting me Duel with the big boys and girls. Can't you just give me this?" she wheedled.

From the way she pumped her fist a moment later, Shingo guessed Rika's caller had said yes. "Awesome!" she giggled. "I'll be over shortly! First to touch the ground gets to pick the song for my next floor routine! Bye-e-e!"

And with a grin that Shingo heard crinkle the edges of her mouth, Rika ended the call, pirouetted again, and clamped the Duel Disk back on her arm in almost the same movement. Nor did she stop there; a quick series of cards played hither and thither caused Shingo to shield his eyes from the gust of icy wind that had billowed out of nowhere.

When he lowered his eyes, he felt his jaw drop at the sight of the armored, green-feathered falcon that had alighted behind her. The horse-sized Duel Monster dipped its beak, allowing Rika to climb atop its plumage with a simple back handspring. Shingo found the image of the little girl in her leotard—standing _en pointe_ astride the biggest bird he'd ever seen that wasn't a _Raid Raptor_ —as intimidating as it was ridiculous.

Rika flipped a two-fingered salute in their direction. "Just sit back and watch, boys—if you think you can keep up," she giggled, holding both fingers out in a V and winking at them. "It's time for the _girls_ to have their say now."

And with a deafening cry, the falcon under her feet tore into the distance, shrinking to a mere speck of green within seconds. Shingo, numb from a combination of cold and awe, decided the time could wait to question the notion of taking orders from a preteen girl, and hoisted Kakimoto under his shoulder as Ootomo did the same with Yamabe.

The last thing they saw in the skies where Rika had disappeared—before they left the extent of the Dueling field and sought shelter—was a single golden streak of lightning against the mass of black dots that swarmed the city.

* * *

For Emina Rika, her path to the LID had literally started on her doorstep. Her best friend, Menoko Hotene, then only nine years old—yet still the Junior Fusion ace of the Leo Duel School—had been named as one of the founding members of this secretive organization of Duelists. Hotene had been unusually tight-lipped on the subject, even around Rika, with whom she shared every scrap of information worth sharing at all.

But on the very afternoon that she'd broken the news, Rika had been playing with Hotene in her bedroom when she'd heard the doorbell, and answered it under the belief that her parents had come home from the store. Very little of what happened next remained in her memory; one moment, she'd stared down a dark, cloaked figure twice as tall as she was. The next, she'd awoken in the hospital, with both her and Hotene injured and in great pain. Rika had later learned that Hotene had tried to get her to safety, but, unable to do so, had elected to hold off her assailant by Dueling him instead while her house collapsed all around them. She had lost—but had bought enough time for the police to summon an ambulance for the both of them, and as flippantly as she liked to behave about it, Rika was under no illusion that the act of selflessness had saved both their lives that day.

By the end of the week, after the evil Duelist responsible had been defeated on top of LDS, the two girls had become inseparable. Soon after, Hotene had vowed that Rika would become part of the LID so that she could have a chance to achieve payback for the injuries that the agent of Academia had inflicted upon her body, and the destruction he had wrought upon her house. As she soon found out, that had included more than just refining her Dueling style, but also the quickness of her body and the sharpness of her mind.

The moment Rika was out of the hospital, her punctured lung healed and her ribs reset, Hotene had started a training regimen for her: on top of their Dueling and education, and jogging to and from them both, there were two hours of gymnastics classes every other day, two hours of practice on their off days at Hotene's favorite trampoline park—both for Dueling and for something that the Junior Fusion ace had called "looking for her Zen"—and two more hours comprising a particularly devious series of drills from Hotene that were meant to increase Rika's sense of awareness while in that moment of Zen. Most often these took the form of her stretching out very thin threads along the floor, and then making Rika count them all in progressively less time. Rika's personal best had happened while, at a full sprint barefoot through the hallway of Hotene's house, she'd counted no less than a dozen such threads spaced throughout the walkway, counting and avoiding them all in less than six seconds.

Right now, astride her Duel Monster as she headed towards the signal being broadcast from the Duel Disk she was pursuing, Rika was in that moment of Zen. The search for it had been deceptively easy; finding one's inner Zen often meant having to disengage from the outside world, find a quiet place, and use that calm to reach that higher plateau of awareness. With Rika, it was the exact opposite: she threw herself headlong into the world around her, becoming a constant blur that seemed to never stop moving. For it was in movement itself, in feeling the wind on her face as she maneuvered through the sky, that Rika truly felt at peace—that her Dueling style truly manifested.

Rika pressed down on the feathery back of her steed, and it wheeled left in reply—she'd just seen her objective up ahead. Or at least her objective, surrounded by about a dozen different soldiers riding flying beasts of their own.

She grit her teeth, seeing the golden flash of lightning that streaked through them. So fast was Menoko Hotene moving that the lightning was the only part of her Duel Monster Rika could see, even with that moment of Zen enhancing her awareness. Left and right it flickered, dodging orange blasts of fire from the enemy steeds' jaws, and every time it swung back, one of those soldiers and those nasty monsters of iron they rode would be knocked aside, falling to earth. Occasionally, it would zigzag until it was neck and neck with one of the mechanical dragons—just long enough for both Rika and the unlucky rider to see the blue eyes and messy blonde hair of the tiny Duelist who commanded the black-and-yellow bird that outstripped and outmaneuvered them at every turn. Then, with a blinding snap-roll, they moved on, swatting aside the rusted wyvern, soldier and all, with a lightning-wreathed wing.

Three of these soldiers had tumbled to the ground in the time it had taken Rika to rendezvous with Hotene and make sense of the havoc she was singlehandedly causing. Of their bodies there was no sign; Rika only saw flashes of purple and blue on the street below the dogfight she was wading into. But she knew it was a long way down.

Abruptly, Hotene drew level with Rika. The Junior Fusion Duelist hadn't bothered to change out of her gym outfit, either, but she'd pulled her straw-colored hair out of its bun on the way over. Chaotic curls, bouncing every which way above her purple-and-green leotard, were standing on end, and the tiny Duelist's blue eyes and blinding grin seemed to spark with as much voltage as the thunderbird beneath her feet.

"You're late, Rika- _tan_!" She stuck her tongue out at the Junior Synchro ace. Rika rolled her eyes.

"You know me, Tene- _tan_!" she retorted. The noise of the wind and the battle around them meant that they had to shout at each other, even bare meters apart. "I've always gotta take the long way to get here! I need the extra rush!"

"Well, it's rush hour right now!" Hotene cried back, maneuvering her mount through several columns of flame, then sending the beasts responsible crashing into a nearby apartment with a flap of its wings. "Wanna take the express?"

She pointed ahead with a stubby finger. Rika followed it, and saw a number of enormous gun barrels less than a kilometer away. Each one was trained on the Leo Duel School, firing on the building.

"The boss lady says these guys made three landing points in town!" Hotene explained. "That one down there's the closest one to us—so we're gonna go an' crash their party! Yaiba- _chan_ took off for a second one after he picked us up. Then I went to find you, an' Masu- _chan_ went to find him. There's a third one near where Fuyu- _chan_ lives—so he an' Hoku- _chan_ are gonna deal with that one!"

She leveled the golden chevron of her neon-green Duel Disk at their target. "Ready, Rika- _tan_?"

Rika grinned. She could address her best friend's liberal use of honorifics later. They were still young, after all.

"Just like gym practice!" she whooped. "You go high, I go long!"

They peeled off in opposite directions, Rika flying so low to the street that her steed's wing feathers brushed the asphalt. Hotene, by sharp contrast, soared high into the sky, lost to sight almost within a second. A number of the soldiers they were fighting tried to pursue them, but the Solid Vision comprising their monsters was only meant to mimic heavy metal—and not the nimbleness of bone and sinew. Half a dozen of them collided with each other by the time they'd been able to track the girls' movements through the air.

Hotene's decision to use gymnastics in developing their Dueling was a stroke of genius from the otherwise flighty little girl. Most Duelists could use the sport to provide a moment of spectacle—but she and Rika used it to fine-tune their own individual styles. While the Junior Fusion Duelist reveled in the high-flying, gravity-defying rush of the trampoline, Rika was an artistic gymnast—an all-around athlete who could switch between various disciplines near-instantly. The uneven bars, the vault, and the floor most of all had become her _forte_ : in a Duel, she had learned to see each discipline in an Action Field and use its terrain with ease. A grassy field could become a springy floor that she could use to fuel her momentum while dodging attacks or obtaining Action Cards. Low-hanging tree branches could turn into grasping bars for much the same—and even if the trees that sprouted them were cut down amidst the destruction of an Action Duel, their stumps could serve as vaulting horses if Rika believed them to be high enough.

Even ten-year-old girls got tired, however, and Rika was no exception. It was the rush of moving through space that gave her joy in life—that made her happy to be alive, happy to be the Duelist she was. Whenever her legs felt like rubber, she would simply take to the air on one of her many birdlike _Gusta_ monsters, and let their hard-light bodies carry her against the wind. She would throw back her head, let the wind whip her hair to and fro—and minutes later, she would be ready to dazzle the audience with her displays of athleticism once more.

Rika spent a dangerous second peering upwards, her green eyes zeroing in on the streaking spark up above that was Hotene. She was beginning to spin in the air, bolts of lightning corkscrewing in her wake—

 _Now_.

Being a Synchro Duelist meant having a sense of timing, Yaiba had told her once, during the Duel that had decided Rika's initiation into the LID. This went double when fighting as a team, as it meant working so closely alongside your partner that before long, it almost felt like you could read their thoughts. For this reason, Synchro Duelists made for amazing partners in a Tag Duel, he had claimed, as this innate ability to "synchronize" with their partner allowed them to combine their Decks into devastating strategies.

And so, at the exact moment Rika had seen Hotene make her move; she'd made hers. The Junior Synchro ace dropped down onto her monster's back—right before spurring it into a series of snap-rolls that turned her world into a blur, racing around a central point as though she was flying through the funnel of a tornado. A quick tug at the wing joints caused the falcon-mount to veer upwards, still drilling through the air in a controlled spin—

 _WHAM_.

Bare seconds later, Rika's vision was filled with gold-tinged electricity. Hotene and her monster had dropped like a stone, leveling off right as Rika had passed her. The two monsters and riders, still entwined in their dance, did together what one pair alone could not: nameless soldiers and monsters were scattered by the dozens, swatted aside in the wake of their devastating combination of wind and lightning.

Rika laughed, giggling breathlessly at the adrenaline rush. Even in this, the heat of battle, she could still be a kid.

As quickly as the spectacle had started, it was over, and the world righted itself around Rika. She gasped, surprised despite herself: their target was only a few blocks away now. She could practically see the soldiers guarding the mobile artillery platforms that had been hastily erected in the plaza. More Solid Vision—just like those huge monsters she'd seen while tagging along with Sawatari, she guessed. Giant metal fortresses with gears the size of cars inside them didn't just pop up during the day.

Her Duel Disk chimed. "Anomalous code pattern detected," announced a surgically crisp female voice. "Scanned sequence does not conform to Action Field parameters." Then, hardly a moment later: "Terrain program pattern confirmed—extreme caution is advised."

 _Oh, now you tell me,_ Rika thought with a huff, thinking back to the soldier she'd defeated earlier, and the Field Spell he'd used. "You hear that?" she yelled up at Hotene, who had emerged from her controlled spin with a whoop. The tiny Duelist flashed a thumbs-up in reply.

"We've faced them before," Hotene crowed back, "an' we've seen nastier! C'mon, Rika- _tan_!" And before Rika could think of anything to psych them up even further, she'd dropped so low that her monster's claws skimmed the road with inches to spare. Rika followed in her wake, feeling her heartbeat keeping pace with her monster's speed.

* * *

The soldiers at the entrenchment never knew what hit them.

One moment, a scout—near deaf by the repeated shelling they were inflicting on the Leo Duel School and the surrounding town—had breathlessly reported that some strange phenomenon of green wind and gold lightning had torn through their attack force and scattered it like so many dust motes. The next, he himself was diving for cover as a mighty wind blew through the camp, blowing him and a dozen more off their feet—and then came the lightning.

A number of the soldiers cried out in consternation—the keypads on their right wrists had malfunctioned because of the electrical storm. Half a dozen of them were encased in the blue light of a prematurely triggered recall before any of them knew it was happening. The rest had been smashed against the Solid Vision that formed their fortress. While the hard-light eliminated most of the blunt force, human bodies were not built to take tornado-level wind speeds for very long. Many were groggy. Several were cradling broken limbs. One wasn't even moving.

Hotene and Rika would have high-fived each other if they were close enough; their counterattack had been quicker and more thorough than they'd hoped. Only two soldiers remained that looked like they were in any fighting shape; they had been working the massive cannons on the shimmering Duel Monsters to which they were attached, and so were far removed from the worst of the damage.

They tapped at their keypads, and those Duel Monsters now shimmered out of existence as both soldiers ignited their Duel Disks. Hotene and Rika dismounted from their own steeds, flickering into nothingness themselves.

"What have we here?" one of the soldiers said, smirking slightly. "Two little birdies that flew into the wrong nest?"

"Careful." The other was eyeing Hotene through his silver helm. "One of them is a TOI. I read the brief—this girl helped take down Agent 139. Be on your guard."

The first soldier did the smallest of double takes. "That right?" But his surprise didn't last long, replaced by a truly nasty sneer. "Well, then. I don't think she'd mind if we helped her _get even_."

They leveled their Duel Disks in tandem at the girls. Instantly, Rika heard that crisp woman's voice coming from her Duel Disk again. " _Tag Duel mode online_ ," it vocalized—and a spider's web of information spread out along the screen, linking her device to Hotene's. From here on out, their fields and Graveyard would be shared as one. The only drawback to this was that the soldiers they were facing would be fighting as one force, too—and Rika was well aware that while she and Hotene were the best of friends, that was a far cry from being trained to fight as an _army_.

She breathed slowly, letting the gym take shape around her surroundings. While she wouldn't get to actually use it, the sight was often enough to get her into the zone she needed to win.

 _Now_. "Let's go!" the four of them bellowed as one. "DUEL!"

Sure enough, that military training allowed the soldiers to draw their cards first. The one on the left wasted no time in slapping one of them on his Duel Disk. "I Summon _Antique Gear Hound Dog_ in Attack Position!" he cried.

Rika grimaced as corroded and pitted iron was spat from nowhere onto the field, taking shape into a familiar beast (Level 3: _ATK 1000_ /DEF 1000)—she'd seen enough of those monsters today to not know what would happen next.

"When _Hound Dog_ is Normal Summoned," said the soldier, "I can inflict 600 damage to my opponent! **_Hound Flame!_** " And before either Hotene or Rika could tell the other to duck for cover, the monster had opened its jaws to spray a burst of machine-gun fire at them. Rika felt the Solid Vision of the bullets sting at her skin, like she'd been stung by so many hornets, and a quick check of her Duel Disk showed their combined LP at 3400.

" _Hound Dog's_ second effect!" The metallic beast tensed, growling at the girls. "I can use it to Fusion Summon an _Antique Gear_ monster from my Extra Deck! I use the _Antique Gear Engineer_ in my hand as the other Fusion Material, and use them both to Summon _this_! Go!" On the last word, _Hound Dog_ had leapt into the air—already beginning to distort above them all—and Rika barely noticed a humanoid robot, as equally rusted as its canine companion, raise a drill-tipped hand as he followed _Hound Dog_ inside—

**"** **Mechanical man and beast inheriting ancient souls! Now, form an allegiance and join, and be reborn together as a new power!**

**"** **Fusion Summon!"** chanted the soldier. **"Appear! Level 8! Mechanical demon god!** ** _Antique Gear Devil_** **!"**

The dragon-like monster that dropped onto the field from midair—shaking the earth with a gargantuan THUD—was instantly familiar to Rika. Bladed, skeletal wings dug furrows in the earth, scarlet armor clanged and shrieked over poorly lubricated joints—and the triple gun barrels of the mobile artillery platform she and Hotene had seen just moments ago now turned to bear on new targets (Level 8: ATK 1000/ _DEF 1800_ ).

" _Antique Gear Devil's_ effect makes it completely immune to all other card effects!" bragged the soldier, and Rika saw Hotene grit her teeth. "And its _second_ effect lets me inflict 1000 damage to my opponent! **_Devil Flame!_** "

Rika's angry retort was lost in the deafening fusillade that followed. One cannon blast after another rocked and rolled the earth under her feet, unseating her and Hotene and sending their LP crashing to 2400.

The Synchro user was angry because she'd noticed that the soldier had Summoned his _Devil_ in _Defense_ Position—meaning that not only was a monster with superior ATK the only way to get it off the field, but the soldier wouldn't even take damage from that battle. On top of that, its damage-dealing effect was as good as attacking them anyway. And there was no telling what else it could do …

At least it wasn't physically strong to begin with, Rika thought. Better yet, the soldier had ended his turn—and Hotene was drawing a card to start hers right now. _No doubt she'll have a way to get rid of this rusted-out pest!_

A curious gleam in the tiny Duelist's eye told her that she might have a way to do just that. "I Summon _Spirit Beast Tamer Elder_ in Attack Position! An' then," crowed Hotene, before the bearded, severe-looking old man had even finished shimmering onto her field (Level 2: _ATK 200_ /DEF 1000), "because my _Elder_ was Normal Summoned, I can use its effect to Normal Summon another _Spirit Beast_ monster this turn! So I'll Summon _Spiritual Beast Kannahawk_ in Attack Position!" Again she swiped a card on her blade, and Rika saw an imposing-looking bird swoop onto the field—imposing in more ways besides the arcs of electricity that danced on its black-and-golden plumage (Level 4: _ATK 1400_ /DEF 600).

" _Kannahawk's_ effect!" Hotene grinned. "Once per turn, I can banish a _Spirit Beast_ card from my Deck, and then add it to my hand during my second Standby Phase!" She ejected a card from her Duel Disk, slipped it away—and then grinned wider still.

Rika couldn't help but shiver. Though she knew the little girl better than anyone, she knew that every time Hotene showed her teeth this way—like a shark who'd just spotted the beachside buffet of its dreams—Bad Things tended to happen to the Duelist who just happened to be facing her.

And sure enough: "Now watch!" Hotene belted out. "No one in LDS can Duel like me—no matter how much they wanna be me! I'm gonna banish my _Elder_ and my _Kannahawk_ —an' combine them _right before your eyes!_ "

She clapped her hands. Rika, her heart pounding and her mouth already grinning just like Hotene, watched as her two monsters extended a hand and a wing—and then, just barely, they _brushed_ —

**"** **When the bond between man and beast is at its strongest, the howling wind will be united with the unshakable pillar of wisdom!"**

**"** **Contact Fusion!"** Hotene screamed. **"Appear!** ** _Spiritual Beast Rider Kannahawk_** **!"**

Her two monsters had touched for only a moment—but it was enough. At once, a blinding white light had flared between them, forcing everyone to cover their eyes. Several seconds passed before Rika judged it safe to lower the crook of her elbow—but when she did, she couldn't help but feel short of breath, even at a monster she'd seen countless times before, and even on the way here. Staring at a Fusion Monster that didn't need any Fusion cards whatsoever to bring it out tended to make people do that.

 _Kannahawk_ was no exception; while its ancient rider had not changed in the slightest, the golden bird looked older by far, more majestic than before—and every feather thrummed with more lightning than a thunderstorm (Level 6: _ATK 1400_ /DEF 1600). But just seeing the gauge made Rika's heart sink; Hotene wouldn't be using this monster to attack anything any time soon—and the soldiers knew it, too, judging from the smirks lining their mouths.

"It's a cute trick," one of them admitted. "But 1400 ATK won't get you anywhere against our monster!"

Hotene blinked. "Good point." And then she grinned again. " _Rider Kannahawk's_ effect!" she smirked. "Once per turn, I can return it to the Extra Deck! Then," she added, pausing briefly to watch _Elder_ leap off _Kannahawk's_ back as the thunderbird began to shrink, "I can target a banished _Spiritual Beast_ an' a _Spirit Beast Tamer_ , an' Special Summon them both in Defense Position! So c'mon back, _Elder_ an' _Kannahawk_! **_Contact Out!_** "

By the time Rika saw both monsters take up positions before Hotene (Level 2: ATK 200/ _DEF 1000_ , Level 4: ATK 1400/ _DEF 600_ ), she was beginning to make sense of her partner's strategy. _Kannahawk_ was neither an attacker nor a defender—just a way to gather resources. Soon enough, Hotene would have enough of them to build up her field even more—and those soldiers would be eating their words soon enough.

True to form: "Actually, ya know what?" Hotene snickered. "That was a bad move—I should've put him in _Defense_ Position. No worries! I'll just have _Kannahawk's_ effect banish one more _Spirit Beast_ card from my Deck"—she did so—"an' then, I can just banish my monsters an' start the process _all over again_!" She punched the air.

 **"** **Let's go—** ** _Contact Fusion!_** **"** she shouted. **"Appear once more!** ** _Spiritual Beast Rider Kannahawk_** **!"**

One blinding _FLASH_ later, and her monster was back as though it had never left, folding its wings protectively and putting as much mass as it could between _Elder_ and _Devil_ (Level 6: ATK 1400/ _DEF 1600_ ).

"Now for _Rider Kannahawk's_ second effect!" Hotene was already sliding cards in and out of her Duel Disk. "By targeting two of my banished _Spirit Beast_ cards, I can return them to the Graveyard, an' then add a third one from my Deck to my hand!" She stole a passing glimpse at the card she'd chosen to add, humming merrily to herself—and slid it into her Duel Disk with a pair of others. "Three cards face-down, an' I end my turn," she finished.

The Junior Fusion ace made a face at the soldiers. "Beat that!" she taunted them.

But Rika saw the evil looks the two men traded, and she knew in her mind that Hotene had said the wrong thing.

* * *

_Leo Duel School_

"LID is moving to intercept," said a technician as the school rumbled from another shellacking. "Team three is already on site and engaging."

"Good. That should take the pressure off us for a while." Himika's fingers were starting to get numb—between talking to the chief of police to constantly reorganize his forces in response to this new army's ever-changing strategies, and telling the mayor to _kindly lock himself inside his office_ , she'd be needing a few new phones by the end of the day.

"Priority communication coming in, Headmistress—audio only," someone else cried out. "It's Akaba Reiji!"

Himika blinked. Suddenly the whole room was silent. If Himika's elder child had something to say, it was common practice to make sure he had the first and last word.

She'd pressed a button, and instantly Reiji's voice filled the office. "Mother," his resonant tenor said heavily, "there have been some _developments_." The thin whine of a private jet's engines laced his speech.

With anyone else, Himika would have responded with a biting, _You don't say?!_ But her son had made a habit of being better informed than anyone else in the room. "Who else has been hit?" she asked, fearing the worst.

Reiji told her, and the list of locations he rattled off only multiplied the curses in her head. "What concerns me the most," he said, "is the first of them to be hit. According to my sources, for the past several hours there have been some disturbing reports regarding our branch school in Broadway."

Himika frowned. "'Compromised?' They weren't simply attacked?" Then it hit her. " _Hours?!_ "

"Yes." Reiji sounded grim. "I need to speak with Sakaki Yūshō. I believe he and his family are in great danger."

The headmistress was already working. "I'll get you patched in. Communications are still hit-and-miss, but they're better than what they were when all this start—"

 _CRASH_. Himika swore out of instinct—the floor had shaken so violently just then that her head had thumped against her desk. Stars danced in her eyes, and she needed Nakajima's help to clamber to her feet.

"What was that?!" she demanded. It sounded as though the level right under her had been blown apart entirely.

And from the panicked voices she was hearing—mixed in with the sound of multiple Duel Disks igniting—she had a good idea of what had done it.

* * *

Rika was furious.

The other soldier hadn't even bothered to do anything differently from his companion—he'd simply drawn his card, Summoned another _Hound Dog_ —ruined her favorite leotard even more thanks to its effect damage—and proceeded to use that _Hound Dog_ to Fusion Summon another _Devil_. Now, a full dozen deafening _BOOM_ s later, here they were at 800 LP, and the Junior Synchro ace's temper had finally reached the end of its fuse.

"Are you actually kidding me?!" she shrieked at them, not even noticing the cannons of the second _Devil_ (Level 8: ATK 1000/ _DEF 1800_ ) turning upon other targets. "You're just going to use your monsters and _burn_ your way to a win?!" She rounded on Hotene. "This is just cheap! I have _never_ been so disrespected in a Duel in my life!"

"At least that's all they're doing, Rika." Hotene was keeping her voice unusually level. It sounded like hard work. "Just relax. I went first for a reason. You can win this," she said reassuringly. "For us."

Rika remembered the cards Hotene had Set to her field. A quick check of each one on her Duel Disk was enough to finally calm her down—if very slightly. "All right," she growled, still simmering. "My turn! _DRAW_!"

An instant later—with a deep breath for good measure—she felt even better. "One card face-down," Rika began, and a hard-light replica appeared in front of her for a brief moment. "Then, I switch Hotene's _Rider Kannahawk_ to Attack Position! That's your cue!" she called out to her.

Hotene giggled as she watched _Kannahawk_ rear to its full height, spreading its wings in an attack stance. Then: "Trap Card, open: _Spirit Beast Ambush_!" she cried. "When I activate this card, I can target a _Spiritual Beast_ an' a _Spirit Beast Tamer_ that's either banished or in my Graveyard, an' Special Summon them both in Defense Position! So I'll Summon the two monsters I banished with my younger _Kannahawk's_ effect, an' moved into my Graveyard with _this_ one!" She indicated _Rider Kannahawk_ , whose wings were beginning to brim with lightning. "Make way for my _Spirit Beast Tamer Rera_ , an' my _Spiritual Beast Apelio_!"

The lightning flared, and two flaming figures bloomed either side of _Kannahawk_ : one, a redheaded teenager in a leaf-green robe, wooden staff in hand (Level 1: ATK 100/ _DEF 2000_ ); the other, a dark-furred lion cub whose mane and tail burned with fire (Level 4: ATK 1800/ _DEF 200_ ).

"I'm not done yet!" Hotene tapped at her Duel Disk, revealing another of her Set cards. "Quick-Play Spell: _Spirit Beast's Mutual Bond_! By activating this, I can banish two _Spirit Beasts_ on our field—an' Special Summon a third one from my Extra Deck, bypassing its Summoning conditions! An' you know what that means!"

She brought her hands together again, grinning like a shark. "I'm gonna banish my _Rera_ an' my _Apelio_!" Both monsters stepped forward, drawing closer and closer to each other:

**"** **And now—when the bond between man and beast is at its strongest—the blazing inferno will be united with the burning hearts of our prime!"**

**"** **CONTACT FUSION!"** Hotene chanted. **"Appear!** ** _Spiritual Beast Rider Apelio_** **!"**

As if it shared Rika's fury, _Rider Apelio's_ first act upon being Summoned was to plant a monumental paw on the ground, shaking the earth. Astride it was Rera, her green eyes practically burning a hole into both of the Devils it faced. The air around both lion and rider was blazing, searing the skin; even Rika had to take an apprehensive step backward from the burning Duel Monster (Level 6: _ATK 2600_ /DEF 400).

The soldiers traded glances, but if they were scared, they didn't show it—and that just incensed Rika even more. "I activate the Field Spell: _Altar of Mist Valley_!" she cried, slamming a card onto her Duel Disk's screen. The effect was immediate: parts of the gear-lined fortress that created the terrain program they were battling in were starting to topple, replaced by a great stone table rising from the earth.

"Now, I'll Summon the Tuner monster _Gusta Squirrel_ in Attack Position!" A moment later, a green-furred mammal had scampered onto the field, plated in red armor and sparking with voltage (Level 2: _ATK 0_ /ATK 1800).

Rika needed to double-check the field—just to be sure—before she played her next card. "Now for the Spell Card: _Twin Twister!_ " she shouted, brandishing it high for all to see. "By discarding a card, I can target up to two Spells or Traps on the field, and destroy them!"

"That won't work," one of the soldiers called back. "Our terrain programs don't count as physical cards—your _Twin Twisters_ won't even make a dent in _Gear Town_!"

But Rika had already slid a card into the Graveyard. "Like I was going to try, _cheaters!_ " she shot back. "I target and destroy my Set card— _Big Tornado of the Wastelands_!"

With a _WHOOSH_ , a veritable hurricane—almost as strong as the one she'd seen Ootomo's _Yōsenjūs_ use to wipe out his aggressors—erupted out of nowhere, making her green hair billow in every direction. "My _Big Tornado_ just so happens to have a very rare effect," Rika went on. "If it's destroyed and sent to the Graveyard _while still Set on my field_ , I can target any one card on the field—and destroy it!"

"That still won't help you!" The soldier had to shout at the top of his lungs just to be heard over the din. "Our _Devils_ are completely immune to your card—"

"Don't even care!" Rika privately thought that shutting these idiots up for good might just be more fulfilling than only beating them. "I target and destroy my _Gusta Squirrel_ —and that activates its effect! If a card effect destroys it and sends it to my Graveyard," she said, watching the tiny _Squirrel_ leap into one of the tornadoes she'd conjured, vanishing instantly, "I can Special Summon a Level 5 or higher _Gusta_ monster from my Deck! I Summon _Windaar, Sage of Gusta_!"

The same funnel that had sucked in _Squirrel_ now spat out a much bigger blur of green and brown. It bounced once on the field—then catapulted in a graceful backflip to land in a three-point stance right beside Rika, revealing a tall, green-haired man with a mirror-polished staff of silver (Level 6: _ATK 2000_ /DEF 1000).

"I'm just getting started! _Altar of Mist Valley's_ effect!" Rika twirled to one side, slowly but surely feeling that moment of Zen fill her soul once more. "Once per turn, whenever a WIND-Attribute monster is destroyed by a card effect and sent to my Graveyard, I can Special Summon a Level 3 or lower WIND monster from my hand or Deck with its effects negated! I choose to Summon another Tuner monster—so come forth, _Gusta Falco_!"

A small little bird—barely knee-high to even Rika—clad in spiky armor flapped onto the field, spreading its green wings to their fullest (Level 2: ATK 600/ _DEF 1400_ ) as she plucked another card from her hand.

"Now here's a classic—the Spell Card: _Resurrection of the Dead_!" Rika yelled, slamming it on her Duel Disk so hard it stung her palm. "Normally, I wouldn't bother telling you what it does—what Duelist doesn't know, right? But you two creeps have been getting on my nerves this whole entire Duel, so you know what? Have a taste of your own medicine! I can use this card to target a monster in the Graveyard— _any_ Graveyard—and Special Summon it to my field! So I'll bring back the same monster I discarded for _Twin Twister_ —my _Kamui, Hope of Gusta!_ "

For the second time today, she watched the young boy step up to the field, a look of determination in his green eyes that belied the gauge above his head (Level 2: ATK 200/ _DEF 1000_ ). That made five monsters on their field, Rika thought; if Hotene hadn't brought out her _Rider Apelio_ before now, her strategy would've been dead in the water.

"Now to finish it!" she hollered. "I'm gonna Tune my _Kamui_ with my _Falco_ —and make you sorry you ever set foot in this city! GO!" She stabbed forward, and both of her monsters sprinted towards the soldiers. Green energy raced over their forms, condensing on the bluish crystal set into _Kamui's_ staff:

**"** **Prodigal son of the misty valley. Touch the sky with your newfound power!"**

**"** **Synchro Summon!"** Rika shrieked. **"Take flight! Level 4!** ** _Daigusta Falcos_** **!"**

 _FLASH_. Two rings of light had bloomed from the duo, and all of a sudden, _Falcos_ had grown large enough for _Kamui_ to actually ride the monster (Level 4: _ATK 1400_ /DEF 1200). Its armor, far spikier than before, gleamed in the sun like so many blades, and from the piercing cry it loosed from its mouth, _Falcos_ was raring to use it.

Rika smirked. Why deny her monsters the chance? First, though: " _Daigusta Falcos'_ effect!" she cried. "If it's Synchro Summoned, every _Gusta_ monster I control gains 600 ATK—and I think you know what that means!"

They did, and so did their monsters. As _Falcos_ grew to 2000 ATK—and _Windaar_ to an imposing 2600—both _Devils_ seemed to realize the mortal threat they were facing, and retreated several steps towards their Summoners.

That won't save them, Rika thought. "Now—Battle Phase! _Falcos_ and _Windaar_! Pick a _Devil_ —any _Devil_ —and turn it into scrap! ATTACK!" Crystal-tipped staves shone in the sunlight as her monsters did her bidding; _Windaar_ leapt into the air, swinging his weapon aloft, while _Falcos_ launched itself forward as if it fired from a cannon—

 _WHAM_. The two attacks hit simultaneously; both _Antique Gear Devils_ never stood a chance. And while their wreckage fell too far to hit either of the soldiers and reduce their LP, Rika still felt a certain satisfaction at seeing those monsters—having done so much damage to her and Hotene this Duel—finally get their just desserts—

 _Wait_. Some of the wreckage was moving—hovering in midair. Even as Rika's eyes bugged in confusion, she had a sneaking suspicion that both of the _Devils_ she'd destroyed had yet another effect.

Her fears were confirmed almost instantly. " _Antique Gear Devil's_ final effect," one of the soldiers sneered at them. "If it's destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon an _Antique Gear_ monster from my Deck, bypassing its Summoning conditions! Which is a lot better for us than it is for you—the monster I'm going to Summon can't normally be Special Summoned at all! We're both going to Special Summon _Antique Gear Golem_!"

Rika took a step backwards. The shattered remnants of the Fusion Monsters had grown into a humanoid mass so tall that it blocked out the sun (Level 8: ATK 3000/ _DEF 3000_ ). _Falcos_ , most wisely, took up position behind Rika—each _Golem's_ hands looked massive enough to have caught it and tossed it like a children's toy.

The Synchro user wanted to howl. 3000 DEF was practically untouchable for both her and Hotene—neither of their Decks had that sort of physical power to them under normal circumstances!

She blinked. Or did they? Rika looked at Hotene. The tiny Duelist was being unusually quiet again.

 _And smiling_.

"Just one question," Hotene ventured. She pointed to one _Golem_ , then the other. "Are these guys immune to card effects, too?"

That stopped the soldiers in their tracks. " … What does that matter to you?" the one in the lead said defiantly.

Hotene did her best shark impression again. "Bye-bye!" she snickered, waving at the pair. Then—just as Rika realized what was about to happen—"Trap, activate: _Spirit Beast Coordination_! With this card, I can destroy monsters on the field up to the number of _Spirit Beasts_ I control! And since I control _two_ of them … "

She gestured to her _Kannahawk_ and her _Apelio_. In an instant, both monsters were nothing but blurs, each of them bulling straight through a _Golem_ and shattering it into a thousand pieces of twisted metal. They leapt through the shower of wreckage, dozens of meters into the air—

"Ooh—Rika!" Hotene danced where she stood in gleeful anticipation. "Now comes the part where they run away screaming! Ready?"

Rika was already rubbing her hands, an identically sinister grin unrolling over her mouth. " _Ready_."

They pointed at the soldiers in perfect synchronicity. " _Rider Kannahawk_! _Rider Apelio_!" they declared. "Attack their Life Points directly!"

It happened too fast for the soldiers to run at all—let alone to do so screaming. The thought might well have crossed their minds, but by then _Kannahawk_ and _Apelio_ were already right in front of them. Lightning and fire erupted with kaleidoscopic results, disintegrating the digital landscape of _Gear Town_ and charring several whole blocks of streets around them. The soldiers were nowhere to be seen, but the gauge showing their LP at zero lingered still—as did a few errant sparks of purple and blue.

Rika saw this, and felt her face pale. She'd seen this happen already, in the ice sector of _Wonder Quartet_. She had hoped Hotene's attack would take too little time for the same thing to happen to these two soldiers—too quickly for whatever technology they carried to seal them, to put them forever out of their reach. But now the joy of her victory was gone, replaced all too quickly by a sudden fear that made her knees knock together.

" … Hotene?"

" … Yeah, Rika?"

The Junior Synchro ace registered the absence of their nicknames. "I … probably should've told you they do that if they lose … shouldn't I?"

" … Yeah." There was a pause. "Do you … think they knew they'd turn into cards if they lose?"

Rika swallowed. "I remember what you told me," she answered, "about the first Duelist from Academia you'd ever faced. Everything she could do … everything she did to you. But you told me she _wanted_ them to turn her into that … that monster. She wanted that kind of power for herself—no matter what it did to her."

She nodded. "So yeah. I think they knew. In fact"—Rika stared at the spot where the soldiers had been standing—"I'm beginning to think it's what _they_ wanted, too."

 _And that_ , she added in her head as she made to leave the Duel site with Hotene, _means they're way more dangerous_.

They managed about ten paces before Hotene's Duel Disk crackled with static. Instantly she'd raised it to her ear. "Hello?"

No response. Then—"enemy for—entered Leo Duel … repeat—my forces—red LDS—Lancers fall—perimeter—"

There was a burst of static, and finally nothing. Hotene and Rika looked at each other, horror-stricken. Both of them had heard enough of Himika's message to put the awful truth together: the Leo Duel School had been breached—and as far as they knew, they were too far away to do a thing about it.


	7. VI

VI

_Leo Duel School_

It had always been a question of when, not if. There were just too many soldiers for Himika to assume otherwise.

So when she'd routed the security camera feeds through to her office, and seen the dozen or so of them sprinting off their winged _Antique Gear_ monsters— _Wyverns_ , she would later learn they were called—and slashing their Solid Vision sword blades through air, computers, and any LDS personnel standing in their way, she reacted only by biting her lip, trying and failing to fight the green tinge in her cheeks.

She was thankful that the camera feeds were video only. Hearing the sounds of the one-sided battle—the screams of men and women as those blades phased through flesh and bone with impunity, sealing them away with a single slice of hard light—would have pushed her into a perpetual state of anger, and clouded her judgment permanently.

Because she could still think clearly, however, Himika had deduced that the attacking forces had made their way into LDS via the openings they had created in the external windows. From there, they had divided into two groups; one was headed upstairs. It had to be assumed that group was meant to take her out—to cut the head off the snake.

The other, larger group, however, had brute-forced their way into the lifts that she'd shut down earlier—including the ones that led to the sublevels of the Leo Corporation, where all their research and their highest-end technology was kept. A series of satchel charges blew out the floors on the elevators. High-tensile monofilaments and climbing equipment allowed them to rappel down the shafts to their destination.

From how they were massing into a particular series of elevators, Himika could only guess they'd obtained building schematics somehow. There was only one way that could have happened—but that could wait. The fact that they were taking this route told her what they were after—and that she had a sudden opportunity to respond to their scheme and foil it for good.

She whirled on Nakajima right as the soldiers she was watching crested another staircase. "What's the status of guard protocol seventeen?"

Nakajima checked his tablet. "RSV projectors won't be ready for a few more minutes," he replied. "I know—I know—I can try to coax them out in two. But every hard-light generator in the building has to be synchronized _perfectly_ to pull this off. If we're off by even a _nanosecond_ , it could ruin our entire defense."

"Exclude the generators in nonessential areas," said Himika, pulling up the school blueprints with a few keystrokes. "We won't need the ones for our training facilities, and those are the most powerful ones in the building. Reroute them to this generators in this hallway"—she drew her finger along a lengthy path in the LeoCorp sublevels—"and this one here," she added, pointing out a second route that Nakajima recognized immediately.

He felt his face go pale. "That's … cutting it pretty close," he said, hesitating for the first and last time he would in this entire crisis. "Those soldiers will be right on top of us by the time the protocol's ready to execute."

"I know." Himika bit her lip. "But I cannot risk them finding out what's happening until the last possible moment."

She rolled her shoulders, stretching her arms. "Order our remaining security forces to withdraw and regroup at these coordinates." She pointed out several places on the floor plan. "We need to close this net, and fast."

* * *

_Elsewhere_

After Academia's first attack during the Maiami Championship, a number of shelters had been erected or otherwise excavated to account for the chance that such an assault could happen again.

One of these had been dug three blocks away from the You Show Duel School, and it was here that Hīragi Shūzō huddled, one eye on his Duel Disk to check for updates on the current crisis, and his other eye watching his pupils to make sure they were holding up all right. Ayu, Tatsuya, and Futoshi were clamping each other so tightly that they were almost a singular being—but they, like just about everyone else, were alive and aware of their surroundings.

 _Just about_ everyone else.

Shūzō's Duel Disk chimed just then, and he flinched—the sound had shattered the silence of the shelter as though a bomb had gone off inside it. "H-hello?" he managed to stammer.

"It's me." Sakaki Yūshō's voice had rarely sounded so angelic. "Are the kids all right, Shūzō?"

"Yes." He did a quick headcount just to be sure. "Every student's here in the shelter with me. The only two exceptions are your son and my daughter—and Dennis and his friend are with them, so I know they're safe."

There was a pause. " … What friend?"

"Dennis visited You Show earlier today with Yūya, Yuzu, and that LDS student, Kōtsu Masumi," Shūzō told him. "He brought an old man with him who said he was a teacher at Dennis' old school in New York. Elderly chap, looked like a strongman—told me his name was Herman von Stadion. And he said he was here to interview—"

He got no further; his mouth had dropped to the floor at the noise that had just erupted from his Duel Disk. Every boy and girl in the shelter was looking right at him. Neither they nor Shūzō had ever heard Sakaki Yūya's father swear like that before—and certainly not so creatively or explosively.

"Shūzō, you _IDIOT!_ " bellowed Yūshō. "You mean to tell me you left our children with a _complete stranger?!_ "

The You Show principal, thoroughly cowed, attempted to protest. "The city was under attack! Herman had said our children might have been the reason we were under attack in the first place! Dennis volunteered to make sure none of them came to harm! I-I don't understand why you're so upset!"

There was a sharp intake of breath. Yūshō was sucking air through his teeth in great displeasure. "I can't explain right now," he said heavily. "I have to find those two kids before it's too late. And when I do," he added with an unmistakable hint of warning, "the four of us _will_ be sitting down for a rehash of the 'stranger talk', Shūzō."

Then, more quietly still, "We've lost our children once before," he muttered. "For my son's sake, I cannot permit myself to lose him again. And for your daughter's sake, _neither should you_."

The line went dead, leaving Shūzō to ponder just why Yūshō was so mad at him. With every second he pondered—holed up inside the suddenly uncomfortable silence of this dark, cramped shelter—he felt a growing pit in his chest … a sensation that things might be worse than he'd thought.

* * *

Shijima Hokuto was beginning to hate these life-or-limb situations.

Only months ago, his main concern had been getting to his next match at the Maiami Championship on time. He'd won his first match with ease, and had been awaiting his upcoming Duel with Mokota Michio. Then, out of the blue, he had been cornered in an alleyway by two people—one, a big man he'd disliked on sight; the other, a girl who showed just enough of her face to look a heck of a lot like Hīragi Yuzu.

The girl had Dueled him, and he'd lost—not just badly, but _hilariously_. Hokuto himself would've laughed if he'd had the chance. But he never did—one flash of purple light later, followed swiftly by a constricting sensation that felt like being trapped inside a rapidly shrinking box, and he'd known nothing more.

Then, almost as quickly, he'd regained consciousness inside—unless his eyes were deceiving him—Akaba Himika's desk drawer, of all places. The LDS headmistress had wasted no time in giving him a rundown of the situation—he'd been sealed into a card, which meant he missed his next Duel in the Maiami Championship and lost by default because of it; a number of weeks had passed in the time since, during which the Championship had been canceled after an army of Duelists from another dimension had invaded the city; Masumi was helping to evacuate the city from what appeared to be another attack from a gigantic extra-dimensional dragon that used to be Sakaki Yūya; Masumi and Yaiba were dating and leading a special group of Duelists that protected LDS from outside threats—

He'd remembered stopping Himika right there to ward off his impending headache. Then: "Wait—I _lost?_ " Then, shortly after that: "Wait— _dating?!_ "

Hokuto was a brilliant Duelist. But he'd never claimed to be brilliant at anything else—and that included keeping his priorities straight. So he'd tabled all the news he thought could wait for the time being, and made his way over to Masumi and Yaiba as quickly as he could to help them out, Duel Disk ignited.

Not that he'd needed it: a group of Duelists from all over the Four Dimensions—that had been a whole other headache he'd received from Masumi during what was otherwise a happy and tearful reunion—had defeated the dragon instead. Hokuto was almost disappointed that he wasn't able to prove his strength to it mere minutes after being freed from a prison he didn't even know he'd been inside to begin with.

 _Almost_.

Feeling his two fellow circuit representatives crush him in a hug more than made up for the lost chance to prove his worth. He'd spent the whole rest of the day with them, laughing and catching up with them—and feeling floored at the nonsensical tale Masumi had woven about the first kiss she had shared with Yaiba atop LDS itself, smack in the middle of an equally absurd Duel. The whole next day had been devoted to breaking the ice with the three Duelists that Masumi had corralled into becoming Maiami City's second group of Lancers. Well—two of them, anyway; the third had been his friend for longer than he'd known even his counterparts in the Fusion and Synchro circuits.

Meeting the thin, sickly, bedridden Rokkaku Fuyu—and helping to instill a love of Dueling in him despite his frail condition—had been an unexpectedly sappy moment in Hokuto's life, and he hoped with all his heart that it would never get so sappy again, if only to preserve that moment in his memory forever. The many Duels they'd played on his bedside table had gone a long way in making him not only a student in the Leo Duel School's Xyz circuit—but also Hokuto's Tag Duel partner. Neither boy would have anyone else by his side when the going got tough.

Which, as luck would have it, was happening right this moment.

Hokuto glanced at the skinny form of Fuyu panting next to him, and the faint scars that still etched at his face, just barely visible under the helmet he wore in tandem with his one-piece, form-fitting body glove to protect his sensitive skin from the sun's rays. Both boys spent all of the third day following Hokuto's return catching up and figuring out just how and why Masumi had created such a team of Duelists—to say nothing of one that included Fuyu himself. The Xyz rep had been impressed at his Fusion counterpart's cunning, to say the least; inspiring a depressed Fuyu to Duel so well that it impressed _him_ was nothing short of a miracle. Day number four had been all about the events leading up to the scars themselves, and the man responsible for inflicting them all on Fuyu. Fuyu's ears were pink for the rest of the day after the loud curse Hokuto had uttered when he'd heard that bit of news.

"Turn end!" he heard a voice bark just then. The words carried much more mercy than their speaker had intended.

Hokuto scowled. He and Fuyu had been relaxing at the planetarium on the north side of town, where Fuyu's parents worked—and more specifically, the residence underneath where the family of three lived together after hours. Then, all of a sudden, the alarms had gone off, and Hokuto had seen the initial scenes of the attack from the front window.

It was a sight he wouldn't be forgetting for some time: more than a dozen monsters, each one the size of an office building, moving through the city and razing entire blocks with laser fire. But even as he'd moved to take action, and asked Fuyu if he wanted to join them, more reports were coming in—this time of the Lancers, including Kurosaki Shun, who he'd since learned was from a different dimension rather than being a top student of LDS, fighting the enemies that used these monsters. Not only that, they were _winning_.

But before Hokuto could breathe a sigh of relief, a veritable cloud of Dueling soldiers riding decrepit mechanical dragons had swarmed the air, landing just below the hillside on which Fuyu's planetarium stood. Before he could blink, a host of guns had risen from the treeline—and proceeded to shell the city from afar. Most of the shells had come perilously close to hitting the Leo Duel School. The rest of them actually did.

But even before then, an angry Hokuto had been on his way to give the men responsible a piece of his mind, Fuyu trailing behind him. They'd marched practically up to the throats of the strangely dressed soldiers who were controlling the weapons responsible, challenged them to a Tag Duel without even batting an eye—and now here he was, wondering if it had been truly worth it to do so.

Ending the first turn of the Duel at 2400 LP tended to make Hokuto feel that way, and more so when that deficit had been caused through sheer effect damage—over half of which had been caused by the mobile cannon platform he and Fuyu were staring down (Level 8: ATK 1000/ _DEF 1800_ ). The fact that the pair of soldiers they were Dueling used Field Spells that didn't need a physical card to activate them was even more frustrating—no matter how much Fuyu had warned him about such things in the past. But it was Hokuto's turn now, and he was glad for it; the card he'd just drawn was the cherry on top of a damned good hand.

"Double Continuous Spell, activate: _Sacred Belt_ and _Star Sign of the Sacred_!" he cried, slapping it and another card from his hand onto the screen of his purple Duel Disk. "While I control _Sacred Belt_ , the activation of all LIGHT-Attribute monsters' effects cannot be negated!

"Next! I Summon _Sacred Pollux_ in Attack Position!" Hokuto slapped another card on his blue blade, and a broad, white-armored knight rose up from the ground—or at least the right half of an armored knight, with a formless mass of marble-like white for his other half, and a strange, tuning fork-like sword held in both hands (Level 4: _ATK 1700_ /DEF 600). "Its effect lets me conduct a second Normal Summon during the turn it was Normal Summoned! So for that second Summon, I'll Release _Pollux_ to Advance Summon _Sacred Virgo_ in Attack Position!"

With a flash of light, both halves of _Pollux_ disappeared, only to reform into a slender female knight in white-gold armor (Level 5: _ATK 2300_ /DEF 1600). "And when _Virgo_ is Normal Summoned," Hokuto went on, "I can use its effect to Special Summon another Level 5 _Sacred_ monster from my hand in Defense Position! I Special Summon _Sacred Escha_!"

The monster that appeared beside _Virgo_ was even thinner, and much less graceful in its build and stature. More machine than knight, _Escha_ brandished six scything claws at the two soldiers, whirling them through the air in an intricate dance of whining metal (Level 5: ATK 2100/ _DEF 1400_ ) before finally dropping to a knee.

" _Escha's_ effect activates if it's Special Summoned," Hokuto explained, "and lets me add a _Sacred_ monster from my Deck to my hand!" After he'd done so—smirking slightly as he formed the next phase of his plan—Hokuto decided it was time to show his stuff. "And now—I'll use my Level 5 _Escha_ and _Virgo_ to construct the Overlay Network!"

He stamped his foot, and a galaxy of miniaturized stars erupted before him, encasing both his monsters in golden energy and sucking them inside without a moment's notice:

**"** **Light of the stars, descend and shake this very earth!"**

**"** **Xyz Summon!"** bellowed Hokuto. **"Rank 5!** ** _Sacred Pleiades_** **!"**

The ten-foot-tall blur that shot out of the celestial whirlpool an instant later was of pure, deep gold and clear blue sky. Its multi-tailed cape, fluttering and flapping about in the wind, gleamed so brilliantly that it must have been sewn with the light of the stars themselves (Rank 5: _ATK 2500_ /DEF 1500; ORU 2).

" _Star Sign's_ effect!" Hokuto indicated his other Continuous Spell. "Once per turn, if a _Sacred_ Xyz Monster is Special Summoned to my field, I can draw a card!" He did so, and smirked again. Maybe he could use this later on. For now, though: "Battle Phase!" he snarled. " _Sacred Pleiades_ —attack _Antique Gear Devil_!"

Pleiades hefted a huge golden blade in its hand, then launched itself forward, ready to cleave _Devil_ down the middle. A full second later, it did just that—but Hokuto's satisfaction was tempered by the fact that it had been destroyed while in Defense Position. He'd have to wait a little longer before inflicting any real damage this Duel—

" _Antique Gear Devil's_ final effect!" cried the soldier who'd Summoned it. "When it's destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon an _Antique Gear_ monster from my Deck, and bypass its Summoning conditions to do so! That means I can Special Summon—"

But Hokuto was already moving to counter. "Don't even care!" he said. " _Sacred Pleiades'_ effect! Once per turn, I can detach an Overlay Unit, then target a card on the field and return it to the hand! So whatever you're Summoning can wait till later, pal!"

With a single snap of his fingers, one of the golden orbs revolving around _Pleiades_ winked out. As though it had been a signal flare, the monster's cape billowed in the air, radiating a massive surge of light. Hokuto caught the brief silhouette of something enormous and shambling (Level 8: ATK 3000/ _DEF 3000_ ) before it vanished just as quickly as it had been Summoned.

He crossed his arms, and smirked. "Turn end."

As the soldier's partner drew to start his turn, Fuyu drew in closer to Hokuto. "Nice job," he said in his usual raspy voice—the only part of him that hadn't grown in any way between the day Masumi had first met him and today. "I got a good look at that monster before _Pleiades_ sent it off. It would have caused a lot of problems if you'd let it be."

Hokuto nodded, but he kept himself tense. "Stay sharp all the same," he muttered in an undertone. "I get the feeling these guys don't play by the rules."

Fuyu looked around the Duel site—decorated with all the inner workings of any big factory, grinding and churning in a cacophonous droning shriek. "What was your first clue?" he huffed, looking at _Gear Town_ as though he wished his electric-blue gaze could shoot lasers and burn it all to the ground.

The voice of the second soldier snapped them out of their reverie. "I activate the Spell Card: _Magnet Circle LV2_!" he shouted, slipping a card onto his Duel Disk. "With this card, I can Special Summon a Level 2 or lower Machine-Type monster from my hand! I Special Summon _Antique Gear_ in Defense Position!"

The monster that zoomed onto the field an instant later was surprisingly small—especially for a Deck known for producing some absolute behemoths of monsters. _Antique Gear's_ unipedal body was barely chest-high with Hokuto, and considering that it had to use both of its arms to steady the single wheel that served as its legs, he thought it looked even more harmless than its point gauge hinted at (Level 2: ATK 100/ _DEF 800_ ).

"Terrain program: _Gear Town's_ effect!" the soldier went on. " _Antique Gear_ monsters can be Advance Summoned with one less Released monster! I therefore Release my _Antique Gear_ to Advance Summon _Antique Gear Golem_!" In a trice, something had sparked within the tiny monster, and it fell to the ground—little more than scrap. But just as quickly, something enormous had plodded onto the field to take its place—a massive, poorly lubricated iron giant that both Hokuto and Fuyu were quick to recognize from the Summon they'd managed to abort just one turn ago (Level 8: _ATK 3000_ /DEF 3000).

"And now," smirked the soldier, "I activate the Spell Card: _Antique Gear Fusion_! With this card, I can Fusion Summon 1 _Antique Gear Fusion_ monster from my Extra Deck, using monsters from my hand or my field as Fusion Materials! Then, if one of those materials is an _Antique Gear Golem_ on my field"—he swept a hand upward at his massive monster—"I can also use monsters in my Deck as additional Fusion Material! So I'll fuse the _Golem_ on the field with the second _Golem_ your _Pleiades_ sent to my partner's hand—and a third _Golem_ in my Deck! GO!"

As the soldiers began to swipe cards here and there, and the familiar whirlpool of a Fusion Summon began to form in the skies above, Hokuto saw Fuyu take a step backward. The Xyz Duelist's bright blue eyes carried an all-too-familiar look of fear in them. That wasn't good—Fuyu's bout with the sickness that had consumed his childhood had left him with a severe lack of confidence in his abilities as a Duelist. His friendship with Hokuto had been the one thing that dispelled it all until Masumi and the LID had come along to pick up the slack while he'd been sealed into a card. He'd been improving day by day since then, slowly becoming bolder and more confident in his moves.

To see the old uncertainties return now … Hokuto bit his lip. He'd need to do something to snap Fuyu out of it.

**"** **Ancient giants of the long-gone war! Become one now and demonstrate your tremendous power!"**

The soldier's chanting—and the tortured shrieking of metal that tried in vain to drown him out—distracted Hokuto momentarily. For the _Antique Gear Golem_ , even as it rose into the swirling energies above them all, was being mutilated by some inner force; its limbs ripped from its crude and rusted torso, floating alongside it in the ethereal mass. More pitted iron limbs, presumably torn from its brethren, rose to meet it—

 **"** **Fusion Summon!"** snarled the soldier. **"Come forth!** ** _Antique Gear Megaton Golem_** **!"**

It was not the most elegant Fusion Monster Hokuto had seen—Masumi's personal spin on the method made sure of that. But there was an element of simplicity in how brutally the three monsters had combined together: six arms and six legs had been crudely grafted onto the single surviving torso, forming a veritable forest of slashing spikes, crushing claws, grinding gears—and enough iron over them all to plate a battleship (Level 9: _ATK 3300_ /DEF 3300).

Even in the cacophony of noise this new monster produced, Hokuto could still hear Fuyu gulping. And the soldier's next words made him feel no better: " _Megaton Golem's_ effect! If it was Fusion Summoned using at least two _Antique Gear Golems_ , it can attack up to that many times during each Battle Phase! And I think you know what that means!" he sneered at them.

Hokuto did. "BATTLE PHASE! _Megaton Golem_ —attack _Sacred Pleiades_! Grind these inferior Duelists into the dust in which they belong!"

The Xyz rep grit his teeth. He had no choice—he needed to act _now_ —

" _Sacred Pleiades'_ effect can be activated during any turn," he shot back, "and at any time I wish—even during the Battle Phase! I detach its final Overlay Unit to return your _Megaton Golem_ from whence it came!"

Fuyu sprang forward. "No—wait—!"

But without further ado, _Pleiades_ had already rushed out to meet the _Megaton Golem_ charging it down like an entire herd of rhinos. Hokuto wasn't able to see what happened, owing to the enormous flash of light that happened an instant later and nearly blinded him. But once the stars had faded from his eyes, he was able to see his _Pleiades_ still standing—and _Megaton Golem_ reduced to a mere husk of what it once was. Two of its legs had fallen off from the force of whatever _Pleiades_ had done to it—and twice that many arms were naught but twisted scrap around its body.

And yet, he thought in confusion, the monster seemed to still be standing—still twitching— _still alive_ —

" _Megaton Golem's_ final effect," the soldier snickered, hardly even abashed that Hokuto had gotten rid of his killing blow with such ease. "If it leaves the field by an opponent's card effect, I can Special Summon something _else_ from my Extra Deck, bypassing its Summoning conditions—a monster that surpasses it in sheer physical power!"

He raised a fist to the sky. **"Come forth!** ** _Antique Gear_** **Ultimate** ** _Golem_** **!"**

Hokuto's mouth fell open as the _Golem_ began to transform before his eyes, its torso stiffening and elongating into a centaur-like body. Black armor shimmered over the behemoth's left forearm, leaving ripping edges in the claws, and multiple tails whipped in every direction, slicing through trees and gouging furrows in the ground (Level 10: _ATK 4400_ /DEF 3400).

He failed to suppress a curse. Things had just gone from bad to worse for them both.

"Now, _Ultimate Golem_!" bellowed the soldier. "Destroy _Sacred Pleiades_! **_Eternal Ultimate Pound!_** "

This time, Hokuto knew there was nothing he could do to stop what was coming. "Brace yourself, Fuyu!" he yelled, even as the earth shook under their feet from the monster rampaging towards them. "This is gonna suck—!"

It did: _Ultimate Golem_ smashed through _Pleiades_ as though the armored knight wasn't even there, and sped right through its shattered remains without losing an ounce of momentum. Hokuto and Fuyu offered only token resistance as the Fusion Monster plowed through them both, scattering both Duelists in opposite directions and forcing their LP to plummet to a measly 500.

Hokuto's whole body ached, but he forced himself to get up from where he lay, limbs splayed. Shellshock raced through his body, causing him to stumble half a dozen times on the way to his partner's body.

Mercifully, Fuyu was breathing and conscious. But his high-tech jumpsuit was ripped and torn, and he was bleeding from at least a dozen cuts and scrapes from the force of the impact he'd just sustained. Even this put Hokuto on edge; he knew his companion's body was not well adapted to fighting in such rough Dueling environments.

"I tried to warn you, Hokuto- _san_ ," the Xyz Duelist whispered hoarsely. "Remember how that _Devil_ Summoned the _Golem_ you returned with your _Pleiades_? I was worried that the _Megaton Golem_ could do something like that as well! And I was right," he said solemnly. "I should've told you sooner … "

"Don't blame yourself over this," soothed Hokuto. And in truth, this had been an uncharacteristically rash decision on his part—he should have second-guessed himself as to whether there was more to that _Megaton Golem_ that met the eye. But this was the difference they shared in their Dueling styles—Hokuto fought with the intent of a drag racer; once he got into his rhythm, he wouldn't stop until he'd won, whether it took one turn or ten.

Fuyu, on the other hand, was a Duelist who didn't like to use his strength all in one go—he conserved it until the home stretch, waited until he knew the final blow was his to deliver, before he acted. That made him the more patient half of the duo they formed—but it also made him the more vulnerable one as well. Hokuto knew that if he hadn't used Pleiades to deal with that _Megaton Golem_ , it would have left them wide open for them—for _Fuyu_ —to feel that final blow instead; that monster wouldn't have needed its third and final attack to reduce their Life Points to zero, and for the soldiers to make cards out of them both.

He clapped the Xyz Duelist gently on the shoulder. "C'mon," he said encouragingly. "It's your turn now. Make me proud, Fuyu—you've faced bigger pushovers than this guy before."

It took several long moments, and a boost from Hokuto's outstretched hand, before Fuyu was able to climb to his feet. Hokuto took a second to brush the dust off Fuyu's jet black Duel Disk, and the lavender-edged blade it projected, before he gave one more thumbs-up.

"My turn!" Fuyu rasped, drawing a card—and immediately scanned it over his Duel Disk. "I activate the Field Spell: _Hexatellaknight_ —and then, I Summon _Satellaknight Unuk_ in Attack Position!" He plucked another card from his hand, and a dark-skinned figure in lizard-like armor—complete with plated tail—shimmered inside a golden hoop that hovered around its body (Level 4: _ATK 1800_ /DEF 1000).

" _Unuk's_ effect activates when it's Summoned," said Fuyu, "and lets me send a _tellaknight_ monster from my Deck to the Graveyard!" He slid a card out from his Deck, and into his Duel Disk. "Next, I activate the Quick-Play Spell: _Starcrossed Satellaknights_! By targeting a _tellaknight_ monster I control, I can Special Summon a different _tellaknight_ monster from my Deck by shuffling that target back in its place! So I'll shuffle _Unuk_ —and replace it with _Satellaknight Altair_! Come out!"

 _Unuk_ vanished from existence in the time it took Fuyu to click his fingers, though the hoop that had encircled it still remained—and an instant later, a second warrior had materialized inside it: stocky and muscular beneath its white-gold armor and gleaming blue wings (Level 4: _ATK 1700_ /DEF 1300).

" _Altair's_ effect also activates if it's Summoned in any way," Fuyu went on, "and allows me to target a _tellaknight_ monster in my Graveyard and Special Summon it in Defense Position—so I'll revive the monster I sent to my Graveyard with _Unuk's_ effect, _Satellaknight Vega_! And if _she's_ Summoned, no matter how or when"—Fuyu paused here, partly to catch his breath, partly to take in the sight of the second ring of gold that had appeared to _Altair's_ left, and the gleaming armor materializing around the lavender-clad warrior who turned and twisted inside it (Level 4: ATK 1200/ _DEF 1600_ )—"I can Special Summon a _tellaknight_ monster from my hand! I choose to Summon _Satellaknight Deneb_!"

A third hoop appeared to _Altair's_ right before Fuyu had even finished speaking. One flash of light later, and a white-skinned female spun round in a graceful pirouette—made even more so by the sinuously twisting blades intertwined around her sword blade like a pair of snakes (Level 4: _ATK 1500_ /DEF 1000).

 _Perfect_ , Hokuto thought. "If _Deneb_ is Summoned, I can use her effect to add another _tellaknight_ monster from my Deck to my hand," Fuyu said, slipping a card into his waiting fingers—"and now, I'm going to use my Level 4 _Altair_ , _Vega_ , and _Deneb_ to construct the Overlay Network!" He pointed to the sky, and his three monsters launched upwards as one, making a beeline for the enormous galaxy that had bloomed above them, quite out of nowhere—

**"** **Shining knight of the summer sky, whose blade was forged in the blazing wrath of the stars, cut down your foes with blinding light!"**

The three hoops surrounding his monsters were the last bits of them to go; they did not disappear with their owners, but slowly drew together, interlocking and expanding into a delicate flower of energy—

 **"** **Xyz Summon!"** cried Fuyu. **"Come forth before us! Rank 4!** ** _Stellaknight Deltatheros_** **!"**

The Xyz Monster rocketed from the void beyond with the speed of a meteor—and yet alighted upon the ground without seeming to touch it at all. The ten-foot-tall knight weaved _Deneb's_ sword through the air in an intricate dance, before leveling the tip right at _Ultimate Golem_ as if daring the monster to try and destroy it (Rank 4: _ATK 2500_ /DEF 2100; ORU 3).

But even as Hokuto watched, one of the Overlay Units orbiting _Deltatheros_ vanished, and its energy rippled down his armor and along the arm that held his sword. The rippling blade of the sword brimmed with energy, and its point gauge was rising higher and higher to **_2900_** **/2500**.

" _Hexatellaknight's_ effect," Fuyu explained, "grants 200 ATK and DEF to my _tellaknight_ Xyz Monsters for every Overlay Unit attached to them! Then, by detaching an Overlay Unit, I can activate _Deltatheros'_ effect! Once per turn, I can target and destroy any card on the field I want—which means your _Ultimate Golem_ is _scrap!_ "

He threw out his hand, and _Deltatheros_ flicked out with its sword, releasing the energy that flowed through it in one gigantic wave. It washed over Ultimate Golem, and for a moment there was nothing. Then, something in its lower torso exploded, causing its rear hind legs to topple to the ground, and for the rest of the monster to stumble.

But: " _Ultimate Golem's_ effect!" cried the soldier. "If it's destroyed for any reason, I can target an _Antique Gear Golem_ in my Graveyard, and Special Summon it—bypassing its Summoning conditions _again_!" And the monster seemed to step out from the wreckage of _Ultimate Golem_ as it collapsed into so much shrapnel, flexing its metallic fingers and kneeling to the ground in a defensive posture (Level 8: ATK 3000/ _DEF 3000_ ).

 _Damn!_ Hokuto swiped the air with his fist. If _Deltatheros'_ effect hadn't required an Overlay Unit …

Fuyu, however, seemed as though he was reading his mind—something that wasn't altogether impossible, given how many times they'd Dueled as a team in the past. "Now—the Equip Spell: _Stellaknight Factor_!" he shouted, placing one more card onto his Duel Disk. "Any _tellaknight_ monster equipped with this gains 500 ATK and DEF, and can't be touched by any enemy card effects whatsoever!"

Suddenly Hokuto was grinning—and _Deltatheros_ was blazing as if a miniature sun had just been born in its heart. Its point gauge had soared even further to **_3400_** **/3000** —more than enough, the Xyz Duelist realized, to—

"Battle Phase!" shrieked Fuyu. " _Stellaknight Deltatheros_ —destroy that _Antique Gear Golem_ , and make sure it won't ever come back! **_Sacred Blade Slash!_** "

The _Golem_ moved too slowly to react in time—at a full sprint, _Deltatheros_ leaped into the air, sword held aloft. The blade sheared through the behemoth cleanly down the middle, and the _tellaknight_ landed in a three-point stance right as the two half- _Golems_ toppled to the ground in opposite directions, landing with the same monumental _THUD_.

"I'm not done yet!" Fuyu grinned. "Every Duelist has a second Main Phase that takes place after their Battle Phase! And during mine, I can Xyz Summon a certain monster from my Extra Deck—by using a _tellaknight_ Xyz Monster as its Overlay Unit! So I'll use my _Deltatheros_ and its Overlay Units to reconstruct the Overlay Network!"

The fire that had, up until now, been simmering inside his monster now began to blaze like a furnace going into overdrive. Tendrils of stellar gas and flame belched from every crack in _Deltatheros'_ armor, and the warrior began to warp; limbs became clawed and scaled, turning from merely muscular to bestially savage, and his head and neck bulged and elongated from clavicle to jaw—

**"** **Invincible might of the skies, whose holy light was gifted by the stars who witnessed its birth, dispel the gathering darkness** **_once and for all!_ ** **"**

**"** ** _Xyz Change!_** **"** chanted Fuyu. **"The brightest servant of the heavens! Rank** ** _5_** **!** ** _Stellaknight Sacred Dia!_** **"**

The wings of _Deltatheros_ flapped once, and expanded into a truly majestic span, twinkling with a million tiny points of starlight in much the same vein as the cape of Hokuto's own _Pleiades_. _Sacred Dia_ , now fully manifest in their reality, threw back its head and unleashed a deafening roar (Rank 5: _2700 »_ _ **3300**_ /DEF 2000 » **2600** ; ORU 3).

"Turn end!" Hokuto had never heard such satisfaction in Fuyu's voice—and he thought he knew why. Now that his partner's most powerful weapon was on his field, those _Golems_ wouldn't even dream of being Summoned again.

He wondered if the soldiers would be stupid enough to try it anyway.

" _Draw_!" Barely a second after the first soldier—he who had Summoned the _Antique Gear Devil_ —had added a new card to his hand, he'd slapped it on his Duel Disk. "I activate another Spell Card: _Magnet Circle LV2_ —and use its effect to Special Summon another _Antique Gear_ from my hand in Defense Position!" He did so, and waited for the diminutive machine to scurry onto the field (Level 2: ATK 100/ _DEF 800_ ) before continuing on. "Next, I'll activate the Spell Card: _Antique Gear Garage_! With this card, I can target an _Antique Gear_ monster in my Graveyard, and add it to my hand! Three guesses which one I'm going to bring back!"

Hokuto smirked. That soldier had just made a big mistake.

"We don't _need_ to guess." Fuyu crossed his arms. " _Stellaknight Sacred Dia's_ effect! While even one Overlay Unit is attached to it, no Duelist can send any cards from their Deck to the Graveyard— _and_ ," he added, as his monster's wings began to glow with all the radiance of a supernova, "any card in the Graveyard that even _tries_ to return to the hand is immediately _banished_!"

With one single flap of its wings, _Sacred Dia_ radiated a searing wind that kissed Hokuto's skin as though he'd stepped out into a desert at high sun for a split second before immediately thinking better of it. The soldiers weren't so lucky; _Antique Gear Garage_ fluttered to the ground, completely forgotten, while the man who'd been able to play it stared at _Sacred Dia_ silently, his growing horror visible even through the visor that obscured half his face.

He traded glances with his partner. Hokuto saw the instant, invisible conversation they shared, and knew there was nothing they could do. "Just end your turn," he couldn't resist gloating. "Maybe we'll go easy on you if you do!"

The soldier grit his teeth, and said nothing. But he pressed something on his Duel Disk, and instantly Hokuto's began to light up—it was his turn now.

"DRAW!" The wind he'd kicked up from the speed and momentum at which he'd drawn his card was nowhere near as strong as the one Fuyu's monster had produced just now—but it was remarkable all the same; it was exactly what Hokuto had been wanting, and more besides.

First, however: "I Summon _Sacred Leonis_ in Attack Position!" he cried, and watched as a knight in silver-blue armor leapt onto the field (Level 3: _ATK 1000_ /DEF 1800). "And thanks to its effect, I can Normal Summon a second _Sacred_ monster each turn! So I'll Release it to Advance Summon my _Sacred Rescha_ in Attack Position!"

As quickly as it had appeared, _Leonis_ shattered into photonic dust—but a much bigger knight had already stepped forth in its place: seven feet tall, and nearly half as wide at the shoulder with its broad silver armor, _Rescha_ sliced at the air with a pair swords whose twin blades were so thin as to look like skewers (Level 6: ATK 2200/DEF 1200).

" _Rescha's_ effect activates if it's Normal Summoned," said Hokuto, "and lets me Special Summon a _Sacred_ monster from my hand in Defense Position! I'll Special Summon _Sacred Antares_!"

The sinister, black-clad monster that emerged next to _Rescha_ could not have differed more from its companion. Red light gleamed from within its silver armor, four overlarge ribs clicked and clacked in their sockets with finger-like dexterity, and two mechanical claws hovered in front of its body like twin shields, hissing with crimson energy (Level 6: ATK 2400/ _DEF 900_ ). The arachnid display only intensified with the _kusarigana_ that _Antares_ twisted in its hands; it hooked and sliced through the air like the tail of a deadly scorpion.

Hokuto was just about to activate _Antares'_ effect when he remembered Fuyu still had his _Sacred Dia_ on the field. Not that it would have mattered—he already had what he needed. Because: "Now—I'll use my Level 6 _Antares_ and _Rescha_ to construct the Overlay Network once more!"

He smirked—the soldiers were taking another step backwards again. Hokuto could have clobbered them already with his _Rescha_ , but it wasn't often that he got to show off—usually his Duels ended far too quickly for that. And so, as he watched his two monsters brim with more golden light, and zoom off into the cosmos that had erupted overhead, he began to chant:

 **"** **Rain down your dazzling light!"** he growled. **"Xyz Summon! Rank 6!** ** _Sacred Ptolemy Messiers 7_** **!"**

It was a rare occasion that he and Fuyu got to experience what happened next: neither of them often got the chance to play their ace monsters together. So he couldn't help but smile as he watched the gold-white armor shimmering over the silhouette of a gigantic reptile high above, plating it from tail to neck from the ground up.

Then— _THUD_ —the armored beast dropped like a stone, almost inch for inch the double of _Sacred Dia_. But where Fuyu's strongest weapon shone far brighter, Hokuto's own ace monster looked far sharper; the edges of every armor plate that lined _Messiers 7_ looked like they could cut through solid steel (Rank 6: _ATK 2700_ /DEF 2000; ORU 2).

" _Sacred Ptolemy's_ effect!" Hokuto paused for exactly dramatic second. "Once per turn, by detaching an Overlay Unit, I can target any card on any player's field—or any player's Graveyard—and return it to their hand! But since I don't really feel like doing that last one"—here, Fuyu's _Sacred Dia_ snarled at the soldiers, as if daring them to challenge the lie—"I'll just settle for that little toy you call a Duel Monster—and target your _Antique Gear_!"

Holographic wings flashed once as they flapped through the air—and just like that, the soldiers' last line of defense was simply _gone_. Hokuto stole a glance at Fuyu, and was pleased to see him staring back. They were on the same wavelength now—each of them knew what two words the other was thinking right now.

"BATTLE PHASE!" they roared in tandem. " _Sacred Ptolemy!_ _Sacred Dia!_ Attack their Life Points directly!"

In an instant, the two monsters were naught but shining blurs, rushing side by side for the soldiers before they could even turn to run. With a pair of quick barrel rolls, they careened right into them— _WHAM_ and _WHAM_ again—sending their bodies high into the air, and their LP gauges spiraling to zero at terminal velocity.

But they didn't come down. Hokuto blinked, wondering if he'd overdone it a bit with his last attack. But only a few seconds later, his consternation had turned into a cold sweat when he saw the pair of cards fluttering down from the sky. They glimmered with sapphire streaks of energy—and then, quite suddenly, they had disappeared too, but not before the Xyz user had seen a horrified face splashed across each of them.

Fuyu was shaking. The thrill of victory had turned to ash on his tongue. "Did … did we do that?" he whispered.

Hokuto shook his head. "Not unless Kurosaki helped upgrade your Duel Disks while I was gone," he muttered. "No … they did this to themselves."

He looked at _Sacred Ptolemy_ ; it and _Sacred Dia_ had yet to disappear with the end of the Duel. "Climb on," he said, motioning to the latter and heading towards the former. "We'd better tell the principal what happened down here."

Assuming, he thought as they mounted their monsters, that there was still enough of LDS left that Himika was still in charge of it.

* * *

_Leo Corporation Sublevel Two_

_Approximately one hundred meters below LDS_

Until two months ago, the Maiami City Interdimensional Transport Hub—sometimes called MITH among the many employees of LeoCorp—had been a gleam in Akaba Reiji's eye. Ever since he'd produced the cards that allowed anyone with a Duel Disk to traverse the four Dimensions, he'd envisioned a more permanent, more powerful method of travel that would allow not merely Duelists, but tourists and traders to visit the locations of their counterpart cities in the hopes of sharing knowledge and information between them all, helping foster relations and unite them all in ways that would render the recreation of a single, original Dimension quite unnecessary.

Now, the MITH was no longer … well, _myth_. A great deal of empty space, hastily excavated and expanded beneath the city, now housed the Pendulum Dimension's first—and to date, the _only_ —shard of the original ARC-V reactor known to have survived its trip through interdimensional space, finally crashing in the South China Sea. Obtaining the salvage rights alone had cost Reiji a personal fortune, but he had done so knowing that his efforts, as they usually did, would pay their dividends and then some in time.

A few trial runs later, and the MITH would shortly be revealed to the general public. But it seemed as though the soldiers who were currently moving up the hall already had advance knowledge of the place. None of them had gotten lost, even in the near-total darkness—snuffed out only by the red blades of their Duel Disks and the laser-thin streams of blue above them that looked like so many thin pilot lights—emergency illumination, their captain had assumed, before continuing on.

They'd stopped at a door, and carefully attached several satchel charges full of C4 to the reinforced hinges. Ten seconds and a muffled BOOM later, a pair of soldiers had heaved against the door, toppling it to the ground with a colossal THUD that reverberated in the empty space that lay beyond.

It wasn't completely empty, though. The green light that bathed the immense room wall to wall—and more so the curved but cracked form of its source in its center, suspended in midair—was immediately recognizable to them all. Several of the twenty-odd soldiers who were storming the chamber paused to trade murmurs of awe.

The squad leader was not one of them. "Command, Striker Leader," he muttered into his Duel Disk's comm. unit. "We're in. Status is code Zephyr." Then, to his teammates, "Prep for target extraction, window five mikes."

Two of the soldiers hastened to a control console. One of them pressed a panel, and instantly the room was awash in bright light. The visors over their eyes ensured the change in illumination didn't blind them, but instantly they were alert, leveling their Duel Disks at arm's length.

"That's funny," one of them remarked. "That couldn't have been the light switch."

"Must have been a master control," grunted his companion.

"Let's cut the chatter, men," barked the squad leader. "The meter's running—let's get that artifact secure and—"

"What was that?!"

One of the men—the nearest to the door—had spun round, agitation in his voice. "Sir! Possible hostile!"

"Where?"

"Exit point—thought I saw something there!" But even as he said it, the soldier sounded uncertain. "Nothing on visual—UV negative. Only the light strips up above on IR. They must be on 24/7—that's a lot of heat I'm picking up from them—"

The squad leader bit his lip. He'd read something in the intel brief before the attack had commenced. And emergency lights weren't supposed to consume that much power.

 _Something wasn't right_. "Striker group, sequence check," he said. "Sound off with twenty."

"Striker One, console."

"Striker Two, exit point."

"Striker Three, artifact containment."

"Striker Five … "

The man broke off. There was total silence in the chamber. "Striker Four?"

No response. Everyone turned to look at the soldier with the call sign in question.

And froze when they saw the thin, slender hand protruding _right through his throat_.

* * *

In 1958, Gordon Gould—one of the two men widely credited with inventing the process of light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation, and the man who had coined its iconic acronym a year before—proposed an alternative method to firing lasers in a continuous output mode. Instead of a single, constant pulse at which light energy could be emitted, a series of pulses—with nominally higher pulse intensity and duration, and lower repetition rates to compensate—could be produced more efficiently in contrast to only the one. Early in the sixties, using an electric field to change the speed at which light moved through a synthetically produced ruby, Robert Hellwarth and F.J. McClung successfully proved Gould's hypothesis, and paved the way for the modern laser.

A primer of this decades-old phenomenon is necessary to properly explain what happened to the soldiers who had infiltrated LeoCorp sublevel two, as it takes place on a level of time imperceptible to humans: these high-frequency laser pulses have intervals of nanoseconds or even picoseconds—one-trillionth the length of a single second. These lasers, controlled by a distributed network of emitters placed throughout all of LeoCorp, could project the same Solid Vision that composes the bodies of Duel Monsters, and the Action Fields on which they can battle, with a single, simple modification that needed only a few minutes to boot up.

One millisecond ago, the computer registered to one Akaba Himika had sent out this newly booted-up modification to a special mainframe—standing nine feet tall, four feet wide, one foot deep, and not a hair more or less in any dimension—that was linked to this network. One millisecond after that, the mainframe had activated every single one of these emitters inside the building, with special emphasis given to a particular section of office space on the upper floors of the Leo Duel School—and the main antechamber of LeoCorp sublevel two.

One millisecond after _that_ , each of the emitters in those two spaces was programmed to emit a particular sequence of lasers at a particular sequence of times, modulated at a particular series of frequencies that no human could detect with the naked eye.

This process, Akaba Himika had noted with particular relish as she'd issued the command, was often referred to—and perhaps not with a _small_ amount of prescience—as _Q-switching_.

* * *

"What the—?" But the squad leader somehow kept his cool. "Vis-con on target—Striker group, weapons free!"

The hand that extended from Striker Four's throat pulled back, shoving the soldier aside to the floor with a gurgle. He was alive—but the speed at which he grasped for his now-scarlet neck suggested he was in great pain.

His attacker hovered there—literally. The teenaged girl's feet dangled several inches off the ground, and her long blonde hair rippled as though she was underwater. Blue eyes stared evenly at them all, flickering between each soldier so quickly they appeared blurry.

One second later, the chamber was a flurry of movement. Duel Disks were ignited, and the soldiers charged—

—but the girl was already gone.

Before the squad leader could turn around, Striker Two—a full thirty feet away—had clutched at his chest, falling to the floor with a howl of pain. The blonde girl, who had somehow traversed those thirty feet and appeared behind him _without even making a sound_ , had barely even touched him before vanishing once more—and then Striker Five was next to be sent sprawling, with a _karate_ -chop that phased right through his clavicle and into his heart.

It took a few seconds for Striker Leader to realize that he was watching an imitation quantum effect: this girl was moving so fast that the human eye registered her as occupying either multiple places at once, or none at all. Half his team had already been incapacitated in the time it took to process this. Those that had kept their distance were next to fall; the girl's hands seemed to _flash_ —and baseball-sized bolts of light raced from her palms, striking the soldiers with enough force to bend them double where they stood. The remaining few that had managed to ignite their Duel Disks raced for the girl, hoping to seal her with just a single touch of their blades, but to no avail—once, Striker Leader was certain that their blades had passed _right through her_.

That meant _she must be Solid Vision herself_ , he realized with a jolt, a _hologram_ —it would explain how she was able to move like the laws of physics meant nothing to her—but the revelation came far too late for him to do anything about it. The last four of his soldiers had fallen by then, and the feminine hologram was eyeing him with the same sort of gaze she'd been giving his men: utter indifference.

"Command, Striker Leader!" Panic had already set in as the girl floated towards him. "Status code Hurricane! Requesting emergency evac! I say again, emerge—!"

 _FLASH_.

The girl had raised both her hands, and the burst of light that radiated from them was the last thing he remembered. Striker Leader crumpled to the floor in a heap before he was even aware that his mission had failed.

* * *

High above, Himika watched the camera feeds with grim satisfaction. Her strategy had worked almost too well; the sheer speed and efficiency with which the soldiers had fallen one by one—both underground and in the hallway outside her office door—overwhelmed comprehension, even for her.

Attuning the Solid Vision emitters in the hallways had been crucial, as Nakajima had said; synchronizing them had ensured the girl who'd taken all those soldiers out could flit not simply between one soldier and the next one, but between the hallway below ground and the hallway _above_ it. Such a reversal of fortunes had only been possible because the girl herself was an engineering marvel—a paragon of technology that could operate on the same level of nanoseconds and picoseconds as the lasers and circuits that composed _who_ she was and _what_ she was.

It was ironic, therefore, that this paragon had nearly become the shame of the Leo Duel School less than a year ago.

Himika managed to remain in her seat as the hologram of the girl shimmered in front of her, alighted on the marble tile without a sound, and inclined her head in a slight but polite gesture. "Angel-IQ reporting in, Himika- _sama_ ," this hologram said, in a clear but neutral _mezzo-soprano_. "All hostiles neutralized."

"Well done, Q." Himika's eyes flicked to the slab of black glass that dominated a portion of the room. "Your processors are still as precise as ever. Although it's a shame you couldn't have Dueled that last one," she smirked.

"Q" was the nickname Akaba Reiji had given to the supercomputer housed inside that black slab. It had been a byproduct in his efforts to research Pendulum Summoning, and as a result had received one of the first prototype Decks to use the Summoning method near-exclusively. Artificial intelligence and behavioral algorithms allowed it to think like any human Duelist—and even to _act_ like them in the heat of the moment—and for that reason, Reiji had hoped to make Q a standard fixture of every prospective Duel School, as the ultimate opponent in training.

But the mass-production effort had been stifled when one of the programmers behind Q's system had gone missing; the ensuing investigation had almost led to catastrophe when the supercomputer, infected by a series of viruses, had been used as an instrument of mass murder, and very nearly of attempted genocide. Q, having styled herself shortly afterwards as female and christening herself "Angel-IQ", had remained inside Himika's office since then to be more closely watched, controlled—and deployed for when no other last resort, no other secret weapon, was available.

"You did not order me to Duel," said the Solid Vision avatar of the supercomputer housed inside that black slab. "I deduced from the severity of the attack that time was of the essence. I must therefore ask why you did not allow me to engage the forces outside of the Leo Duel School? This would have ended the fighting more quickly—and much more decisively," she added, in what sounded like the supercomputer's version of smugness.

"It's not always about efficiency, Q," Himika said evenly. "It's about making a statement. Whoever these bastards are, they know now not to take us for granted. They know we can fight them on just about any front—and we _will_ fight them on every front if they dare to challenge us again," she growled, "with Duel Monsters or without them."

She rose from her seat for the first time in what felt like ages. "Security status."

"As I have said, all intruders have been neutralized," Angel-IQ replied. "They will remain unconscious for some time. The relevant authorities have already been notified. They will be making arrests and conducting interrogations once they have finished dealing with the remaining attack forces in the city and treating the casualties stemming from the attack. Shall I prepare a casualty list?"

"Later." Himika wasn't sure she was ready to see those sorts of numbers just yet. "How are they coming along?"

Angel-IQ's blue eyes flashed briefly. "Interfacing with Maiami City RSV network." Then: "Preliminary estimates report invasion force is approximately eighty-seven percent contained. The majority has retreated or has otherwise sealed themselves into cards via the technology they carry. The Lancers have neutralized all heavy assault units in the city, and the LID has successfully neutralized two out of three artillery emplacements in the city. Kōtsu Masumi and Tōdō Yaiba are currently engaging the third. Permission to intervene?"

Angel-IQ turned her gaze towards the mainframe of Q. A video image was playing on its obsidian façade; Himika saw Masumi and Yaiba being shellacked by cannon fire, attempting to dive for cover but failing, judging from how their Life Points had just slipped to a measly 200.

"They can handle themselves," she said after a while, "but keep yourself on standby just in case they need a lifeline. I'm sure you've analyzed enough of their Duels to know that they thrive under this sort of pressure."

Angel-IQ bowed again. "As you wish."

Himika's mobile rang just then. "Yes?"

There was silence for five seconds; Angel-IQ saw the headmistress' lip begin to curl. Internal processors recognized the facial tell of a very nasty curse building in Himika's mouth.

That curse rattled the windows like a bomb blast barely a second after she'd deactivated her hologram.

* * *

A short distance west of the mall that the _Chaos Giants_ had attacked earlier, Masumi was in trouble.

Yaiba was less keen to admit it than she was; after the first soldier they faced had Fusion Summoned something called an _Antique Gear Devil_ , and used an _Antique Gear Hound Dog_ equipped with an _Antique Gear Tank_ to bring it out, the resulting combination had resulted in them losing more than half of their LP before he'd even taken his turn.

Fortunately, even as Masumi had seethed over the 1800 LP they'd been left with, her boyfriend had responded by not only Synchro Summoning _XX-Saber Gatmuz_ —his strongest monster at _3100_ /2600—but also using its effect to Release every single monster he'd Summoned to bring it out, and ravage the soldiers' hands in the process. _Gatmuz' Emergency Convocation_ had been instrumental in ensuring _X-Saber Palomuro_ , _XX-Saber Faultroll_ , _XX-Saber Wayne_ , and _XX-Saber Fulhelmknight_ were on the field to maximize the amount of damage _Gatmuz_ could do—but as with all strategies, there had been a tradeoff; Yaiba had been unable to attack and clear the way for Masumi to provide a counterattack. He did, however, have a surprise for if they tried to pull off this cheap burn strategy again.

Or so she'd hoped—but then the second soldier had played another Spell, _Antique Gear Garage_ , and returned the same _Hound Dog_ from before to his hand, then Normal Summoned it again. Predictably, another **_"Hound Flame"_** and a loss of 600 LP later, Masumi was grating her teeth again at the prospect of having to face another _Devil_.

But: "Counter Trap: _Saber Hole_!" Yaiba bellowed, revealing the card he'd Set to end his turn. "If a monster is Summoned while I control an _X-Saber_ monster, I can negate that Summon, and destroy that monster!"

Masumi's elation at Yaiba foiling the soldiers' killing blow didn't last long. Even as _Gatmuz_ had hurled his gigantic sword at the earth and carved out a veritable canyon in the Duel field that swallowed the incipient _Devil_ whole, the soldier's companion was already moving to counterattack. "I activate our other _Devil's_ effect, and inflict another 1000 damage to my opponent!" he cried—and yet again, before either boyfriend or girlfriend could react, cannon fire from the hulking behemoth opposite them (Level 8: ATK 1000/ _DEF 1800_ ) had erupted in their midst, throwing them to the ground and plunging their LP to 200.

It was ages before either of them wanted to move. "Tell me you're feeling better than I am, babe," moaned Yaiba.

Masumi had to grit her teeth to bring herself to a standing position. "I'm not feeling better," she managed to spit. "I'm feeling _angry_. MY TURN!" she screeched, drawing so violently that she felt a twinge in pain in her shoulder.

She saw the card freshly nestled in her fingers, and instantly the pain was a distant memory. "I activate the Spell Card: _Gem-Knight Fusion_!" she screeched, slamming it across her Duel Disk. "By activating this card, I can Fusion Summon a _Gem-Knight_ Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck, using monsters from my hand or my field as material! I fuse the _Gem-Knight Obsidia_ and the _Gem-Knight Roumaline_ I hold in my hand!"

Her keen peripheral vision took in the sights of battle; Yaiba, taking a step backward as though her change in mood had thoroughly intimidated him; the two soldiers who _ought_ to be feeling just as intimidated as her boyfriend was right now; the two monsters that shimmered either side of her—one in gleaming golden armor, the other in sleek jet black—and most of all, the rippling vortex that churned over her head, drawing those monsters inside it:

**"** **Sharp jet-black darkness! Gem tinged with lightning! In a whirlpool of light, combine to bring forth a new dazzling radiance!"**

**"** **Fusion Summon!"** Masumi chanted. **"The one who pursues victory!** ** _Gem-Knight Paz_** **!"**

It was hard to say why the air had suddenly turned so electric; perhaps Masumi's body was simply overflowing with adrenaline at that point, or perhaps it was the nature of the monster she'd just Summoned. Perhaps it was both; the sight of the nine-foot-tall armored figure of _Paz_ hitting the field like any one of the lightning bolts that wreathed its fists—and the jagged blades they held—could raise goosebumps on anyone's skin (Level 6: _ATK 1800_ /DEF 1800).

" _Gem-Knight Obsidia's_ effect!" cried Masumi. "If it's sent from the hand to the Graveyard, I can target a Level 4 or lower Normal monster in my Graveyard and Special Summon it! I revive my _Gem-Knight Roumaline_!" She threw out her hand, and as if it had never left, her chosen monster stepped out from _Paz'_ shadow, dwarfed almost by half but still looking quite imposing thanks to the electricity crackling over its body (Level 4: _ATK 1600_ /DEF 1800).

"Next, I Normal Summon _Gem-Knight Amber_ in Attack Position," she went on, watching a third golden knight take up positions on the other side of _Paz_ (Level 4: _ATK 1600_ /DEF 1400), "and now, I'll activate another Spell Card— _Particle Fusion_! With this card, I can Fusion Summon another _Gem-Knight_ monster from my Extra Deck, using monsters I control as material! So I'll fuse my _Gem-Knights Amber_ , _Roumaline_ , and _Paz_ to Summon _this_!"

The lightning that connected the trio of monsters now surged to a crescendo, warping the space around them into a second portal. They leapt inside as one, their gleaming armor shining brighter and brighter with every second—

 **"** **Gem tinged with lightning! Stone of golden ages!"** she yelled. **"Become one with the paragon of victory and create a new light!"**

**"** **_Fusion Summon!_ ** **Supreme radiance that illuminates everything! Level 9!** **_Gem-Knight Master Dia_ ** **!"**

She had to cover her eyes; past experience told her that the more powerful the monsters that went into her Fusion Summons, the brighter their product ultimately glowed. No monster better exemplified this than the knight that stomped onto the field; at its full height, _Master Dia_ stood level with Yaiba's _Gatmuz_ —and its spotless armor made him just as broad at the shoulder—but the gleaming sword it swung in its hands was far larger than the one carried by the friendly Synchro Monster, and infinitely more radiant (Level 9: ATK 2900 » **3300** /DEF 2500).

"No doubt you've noticed my _Master Dia's_ first effect," Masumi smirked at the soldiers. "For every _Gem-_ monster in my Graveyard, it gains 100 ATK—and it's about to gain a whole lot more thanks to my _Particle Fusion_! When it resolves, its second effect banishes it from my Graveyard, and lets me target one of the monsters in my Graveyard that was used as Fusion Material for its first effect. Then"—Masumi had to raise her voice over the sudden explosion of lightning that had erupted from _Master Dia_ —"that Fusion Summoned monster gains that target's original ATK until the End Phase of this turn! I therefore target my _Gem-Knight Paz_!

"And speaking of _Paz_ ," the Fusion user went on, feeling her gloating smile widen further still as _Master Dia's_ ATK rose to a nice and tidy **_5000_** , "I'll use my _Master Dia's_ _second_ effect to banish it from my Graveyard—so that I can transfer _Paz'_ name and effect over to _Master Dia_ himself!"

Watching the gigantic blade of her ace monster made her feel lighthearted—and she only felt more so when she turned to her teammate. "You want to do the honors, sweetie?" she winked at Yaiba.

Yaiba raised an eyebrow. "You know I don't like it when you call me that." But even as he said this, he grinned ear to ear. "I'll make an exception for today, though. BATTLE PHASE!" he roared. " _XX-Saber Gatmuz_ —destroy that _Antique Gear Devil_! **_Silver Cleaving Charge!_** "

With a mighty roar, _Gatmuz_ hefted its blade and swung it sideways, releasing a wave of energy that sheared through _Devil_ as though its iron armor had been little more than aluminum foil. But Masumi's relief was tempered; the soldiers were able to dodge the shockwave—and with it, the damage that they would have otherwise suffered.

Worse still: " _Antique Gear Devil's_ effect! If it's destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon an _Antique Gear_ monster from my Deck, bypassing its Summoning conditions! I Special Summon _Antique Gear Golem_ in Defense Position!"

Even as the last remnants of _Devil_ exploded in the street in which they were fighting, sending shrapnel flying everywhere, something more towering had arrived to replace it: a gigantic metal robot, as tall as any one of the buildings that lined the street on either side of it (Level 8: ATK 3000/ _DEF 3000_ ).

"It doesn't matter what you throw at us!" the soldier said defiantly. "Whatever you destroy, we Summon something far stronger! That is who we are as Ædonai—the more you fight us, the stronger we will become!"

 _Ædonai?!_ Masumi locked up the word for later—something about that was making her think of another rock to whittle down to the gem within. But it could wait—it was time to prove just how wrong the soldier was to his face.

"It doesn't matter how strong your defenses are," she shouted back at him. "My _Gem-Knight Master Dia_ can punch through them all—and that's because of _Gem-Knight Paz'_ effect that it carries in its blade, and within its very soul! Not only can it make a second attack during each Battle Phase, but it can also inflict damage to my opponent equal to the ATK of any monster it destroys! Which means," she shrieked, "that you're screwed _no matter what!_

" _Gem-Knight Master Dia!_ " She threw out her hand, and the monster hastened to obey. "Make your shining sword be the last thing these _bastards_ ever see! Destroy _Antique Gear Golem_ — _DESTROY THEM ALL!_ "

As if determined to outperform _Gatmuz_ , _Master Dia_ made the same sideways slash with its blade, releasing a wave of lightning that blinded Masumi temporarily. Then, whirling on the spot, _Master Dia_ lashed out a second time, chopping downward with all its might and creating a crater where it struck the road—followed swiftly by a thunderclap that sundered the asphalt and sent the cracks rushing straight for their foes.

It was impossible to say which of the attacks struck first—let alone which hit the _Golem_ and which hit the soldiers that cowered behind it—but it didn't matter. In less than five seconds, both of them had been scattered in opposite directions, as had both halves of their final defense—and Masumi and Yaiba high-fived each other as they watched the luckless men's LP gauge hit zero.

Yaiba swayed where he stood as he tried to process the destruction that Masumi had wrought. He swallowed.

"Every day," he managed to say, "you make me more terrified to even _think_ of being a single man, Masumi."

She rolled her eyes, barely stifling a giggle. "You're one to talk," Masumi replied back, mussing Yaiba's hair. "Or do we need to reroll the film about how you had a _full field_ for a few seconds— _after_ Summoning your _Gatmuz_?"

"Let's just face it," sighed Yaiba, deactivating his Duel Disk and watching his monster and Masumi's vanish into nothingness. "We're two alphas fighting for dominance in this relationship. One of these days, we're going to be fighting a big Duel and it's just going to end with the both of us making out again in the heat of battle."

"Ooh … I'm blushing already," Masumi cooed playfully, conveniently neglecting to mention that the "alpha" she was dating was a good few inches shorter than she was. "Maybe later, though."

She holstered her Duel Disk, and set off towards where the soldiers had fallen. "I've got a few questions I want to ask these creeps," she said, her voice as steely as their monsters' blades. "Who they are, where they're from … and what the _hell_ they were thinking, attacking us the way they did."

But less than a minute later, it was clear those questions would not be answered just yet.

The soldiers were gone. Where, Masumi could not be sure—there were no signs of boot prints in the rubble, so as far as she could tell, they hadn't fled elsewhere in the city. All she saw was a pair of rectangular spaces in the dust that covered a portion of the street, and a strange swirling pattern around each of them—

She frowned, ejecting a card from her Duel Disk, and then holding it to the ground for inspection. The edges of her _Gem-Knight Crysta_ fit the indentations in the dust perfectly.

"That doesn't make sense," she muttered, tracing her finger in the dust, following the swirls till they reached the edge. "If they lost one of their cards, it shouldn't have been transported back to another dimension."

Masumi stood up. Suddenly the street was far too quiet. _Should it?_

"Maybe it went back with the soldiers," Yaiba commented. "They did an emergency beam-out or some _Star Trek_ crap, and it pulled their stray cards back with them?"

"I dunno." Masumi's eyes kept focusing on the swirls. "If that's from them going back to their own dimension, then those swirls should be a lot bigger—the size of their own body. But I don't see anything like that around—"

She broke off—a piece of rubble had shifted from somewhere ahead, off to her right. "What was that?!"

Yaiba's hands flew to his Duel Disk. "I just heard footsteps," he grunted. "There's someone here!"

Masumi's heart was instantly pounding in her throat. The two of them sprinted in the direction of the noise.

"Hey!" Yaiba howled. "HEY! Show yourself and fight, you cow—"

It was his turn to stop in his tracks. Masumi knew why even before she followed Yaiba's transfixed gaze.

There were two of them—a pair of girls with the same windswept hair, fleeing with their hands held tightly. Both were clad in threadbare tunics of earthen brown, and shoes of such identical flimsiness that they looked more like very worn socks. The only distinction between the two was the color of their hair—the girl to the left had sky-blue hair; her companion, flaming red.

But Masumi only had eyes for the Duel Disks they wore: a sleek-looking device on their left arms, each white and trimmed with light blue, but constructed in a shape like a comma—unlike any Disk she had seen before.

The girls turned round as one, still holding hands—and suddenly Masumi was swaying where she stood. She knew that face—she had seen it on far too many girls in her life not to know whom it belonged to.

" … Y-Yuzu?"

It couldn't be—there was no possible way. But even before Masumi had second-guessed herself, both Yuzu-faced girls had stiffened—and vanished into an alley at breakneck speed.

Yaiba surged forward—but the Fusion user threw out a hand. "Let them go," she murmured. "If they wanted to fight us, they would have by now."

"But who were they?" Yaiba wanted to know. "Why did they look like—?"

"I don't know." Masumi's face was grim—and her brain was beginning to overclock itself from how rapidly it was carving the crystal inside her mind. "But I think it's time we talked to someone who might. Let's go."

* * *

They'd made it to the next block before a sphere of Solid Vision bloomed before them. Before either of them could ignite their Duel Disks, it faded away, revealing a blonde-haired girl that Masumi had seen only once before in her life. Her true face, however, was one she had known for slightly longer than that girl had existed.

"Angel-IQ?"

The holographic representation of LDS' Dueling supercomputer—and by mutual agreement the most physically powerful member of the Leo Duel School's Section of Investigation and Defense—looked little different from any teenaged student of Maiami Second Middle School. Only her green skirt, the elegant, silver cursive _Q_ pinned on her shirt collar—and the strange fuzzy glow of her flawless, tanned skin—set her apart from the student body or provided any clue as to her true nature.

"I bring word from Himika- _sama_ ," Angel-IQ said with little preamble. "You must go to see her at once."

"We were just about to head to LDS," Yaiba piped up. "We figured she knew what the hell just happened here."

"I regret to say that she knows far more than that." Angel-IQ's voice carried an unusual amount of weight for a supposedly emotionless computer. "The headmistress has been in contact with Reiji- _sama_. Both of them know who is responsible for this attack. And she has instructed me to communicate her exact words to every Lancer and member of the LID currently in the city."

She stiffened, and said—in the perfectly mimicked contralto of their principal—"'I have made an enormous mistake.'"

With another bloom of Solid Vision, Angel-IQ disappeared from view, leaving Masumi and Yaiba to trade glances of growing horror. Their opinions of Akaba Himika differed—often from day to day. But they both agreed that she did not make mistakes. If she ever did, she seldom admitted to them.

And to do so now told Masumi that something far more sinister had taken place here than a mere attack.

* * *

As previously stated, this attack on Maiami City was not a textbook example of a Duelist trap—merely one that took the _textbook_ to its logical conclusion.

And it worked perfectly.

There is a fifth—and in many cases, the final and most essential—element of a Duelist trap: one often overlooked because applying it requires a state of mind that many do not possess. Instead of focusing on a singular objective of victory, one should ideally create a situation that allows for multiple scenarios to play out, and then stand aside and arrange them all such that their outcome only adds to the chance of success. The most effective win-win situations, after all, are where all parties involved mutually benefit at the table: _I scratch your back; you scratch mine_.

The third element of a Duelist trap—the stand-in for the person or party that controls the snare—should therefore be considered expendable to that person or party, for the trap to work as intended. A certain detachment from things like emotions and morals is therefore recommended—and this element is precisely why many Duelist traps often fail as soon as they are sprung: the person setting the trap, quite simply, does not have it in them to see things through.

However, if the third element fails to achieve the task they were so rigorously trained to perform, a sufficiently detached mind will not see this as a loss. In fact, their brain will already be working to turn this so-called loss into a victory. A deft and careful application of propaganda, claiming that every participant who was sacrificed to ensure the trap's success "fell valiantly in battle" and other such grandiose statements, will ensure that the 'us versus them' mentality that serves as the fourth element is rekindled in the men, women, and children who willingly, _gladly_ step forth to take their place, never once aware—or, perhaps, quite aware and quite unwilling to care—that even consenting to fight for the cause means a far broader, far more unspoken plan has its own chance to succeed.

This, then, is the _coup de maître_ of a textbook Duelist trap: to organize it such that it does not matter whether the Duelist walks into it willingly, or is coaxed into doing so. Nor should it matter if the Duelist is able to escape it.

By springing the trap at all, the Duelist has already lost.

It is critical that the person or party that lays the trap must remain as physically and morally detached as possible from the trap itself, so that both may be allowed to work with minimal hindrance to their efforts. Deploying the third, expendable element in strategic areas of the second element—the location chosen for the trap to take place—thus ensures that the Duelist or Duelists affected will be too busy, and spread too far apart, to sense the thought of a greater hand at work.

And that—by the time they finally do sense it—it will be far too late to do anything about it.


	8. VII

VII

_Earlier_

Somewhere deep in the city, inside a long and winding alleyway, Dennis and Herman finally stopped running. The younger of the pair slumped against a brick wall to catch his breath, shrugging a still-unconscious Yuzu off his shoulders as gently as he could.

"I … need a moment," he panted. "That girl's … heavier than she looks. Either that … or I'm out of shape … "

"It doesn't matter," muttered Herman; Sakaki Yūya splayed over his broad shoulders. He was looking behind him furtively, making sure he hadn't been followed. Eventually he shrugged in satisfaction; all he heard was the thuds and booms of distant battle. "I don't think anyone saw us—but let's not take chances. Go around that bend there."

They turned a corner in the alley, Dennis cradling Yuzu's limp form beneath his shoulder. Herman looked around once more, ensuring no one was in pursuit—before he finally sighed. With a single shrug of his shoulders, Yūya's body slumped off Herman's back and onto the road. Yuzu was placed next to him moments later.

"Thank you for your services, Mr. McField," Herman grunted. "But the Ædonai will not need them any further."

Dennis half turned as Herman raised his briefcase. It was the last thing he saw before the impact knocked him out.

* * *

He caught the boy in his arms before he hit the wall, laying him against a nearby rubbish bin. Deftly he raised two fingers to Dennis' neck, feeling for the carotid artery. Good: there was a pulse. He was alive—if unconscious.

It pained him to do something so harsh to a former student—but then, as he'd said, Dennis had served his purpose; he was expendable to everyone but the people to whom he'd have to desperately prove his innocence now.

The _Kämpfer_ rose to his feet, brushing off his suit. His plan had gone off almost without a hitch: everything he had done from the moment he had departed LDS Broadway to the final moments of Yūya's Duel against Yuzu had been part of his grand design. Well, perhaps not entirely _his_ —but the meat and potatoes of it all had come about through a combination of his military genius and the resources to which his career and prestige had allowed him access.

Yes: the interview he'd conducted with the two children had been a ruse, as had his emotional outburst when they'd regained consciousness. Everything that had happened then, and during the Duel after—he had indeed expected it all … _counted_ on it all. It certainly hadn't hurt that a simple command from his portable computer—just one of the many wonders of technology cleverly concealed inside his briefcase—had _very slightly_ amended the protocols that randomized the cards of each Duelist's Deck before their Duel, and had forced them to prioritize the cards he knew were necessary to prove his success. Cheating it might have been, but the _Kämpfer_ had not been interested in which of them had won or lost—from the instant the first Fusion Monster had been Summoned, he knew he alone had won.

The appearance of Yūya's _Venom Dragon_ had been the cherry on top. The irony was that its appearance had been a happy accident—but even now, the _Kämpfer_ felt a tingle in his spine when he thought of how such power could be used against their enemies. And the transformation Yūya had undergone when he'd Summoned it … He could not resist a shudder of anticipation, knowing what it meant for the future towards which his colleagues toiled …

Only the other girl he'd met at You Show—the LDS student; Masumi, was her name?—had shown any semblance of suspicion as to what he'd done. _Too_ suspicious, thought the _Kämpfer_ ; she would likely have to be dealt with if she tried to interfere again. But therein had emerged his genius, the plan that every single soldier in this city was following to the letter— _his_ plan, he thought with a smile. Enough military force to take the heat of any suspicious parties off his back, force them to focus their attention elsewhere—and divide them further still by turning his forces into more targets than they knew where to turn.

He took a small tool from his briefcase, resting it against the kids' necks. Then, he checked the readout with care, and frowned; serotonin, adrenaline, and dopamine levels were all plateauing—but he knew it wouldn't last long.

This, too, had been according to his design.

The _Kämpfer_ now reached into his briefcase, and now produced the bulk of the technology it stored: an enormous, arrowhead-shaped Duel Disk, large enough for a normal-sized teenager to use it as a small shield. The bronze body, trimmed with steel that had been laser-sharpened into a cutting edge, glinted with a mirror-polished finish as he secured it to his forearm.

" _Jetzt liegt alles an dir_ ," he murmured, fiddling with the screen of his Duel Disk. He leveled it at Yūya and Yuzu—

 _CRASH_.

He saw enough of the man who'd been tossed against the dumpster—so hard that the metal had actually dented—to realize it was one of his soldiers. His face was bloodied, but he saw the _Kämpfer_ clearly enough to attempt a salute.

"He's … coming," he was barely able to cough out. "Held … him off … Finish the mission … You can do it … !"

And before the _Kämpfer_ could say anything, the soldier had pressed his keypad; one flash of violet light later, there was nothing left of him but the card into which he'd sealed himself.

He nodded—nothing would be gained by tarrying now. As he heard footsteps rapidly approaching, he turned back to the kids—raised his Duel Disk, its golden blade coalescing along his forearm—

" _Stop_ —NO!"

But the blue light of a dimensional transmission had already encased both boy and girl. It shimmered over their skin for a long moment, coalesced—and winked away into nothingness.

The deed done, the _Kämpfer_ adjusted his tie, and turned to address the newcomer. "It's been a long time … Yūshō."

Sakaki Yūya's father looked as though he'd just run miles. His outfit was ruffled and dirty; his top hat was askew, and his purple Duel Disk had already been ignited before he'd even rounded the corner.

He leveled the yellow blade straight at the _Kämpfer_. "Give them back," he growled. "Give them back _right now_!"

"I plan to," was all that the German said in reply. It was simple, matter-of-fact—no hint of a lie—but his voice was different now. "But there is much work to be done before that happens."

Yusho did not relax or lower his Duel Disk—not even an inch. "It was you from the start, wasn't it?" the pioneer of Entertainment Dueling asked him. "I thought you might have died—or that you at least had the decency to retire."

He took a step forward. So did the _Kämpfer_. "Old soldiers never die, Yūshō," he said. "Nor do they retire—they just wait until they are needed to fight once more. And that need to fight is now greater than ever."

He pulled at something under his jaw. Then, with a shimmer, the high-tech holographic mesh that had concealed his face from the moment he'd boarded the plane to Maiami City now slid neatly into his hand.

The face beneath was, if possible, even more lined and weathered than the facsimile he'd worn in the interim. Gone was the mustache and the deep blue eyes set above them; cast away was the jolly, booming, avuncular voice that carried the weight of many years. Stubble lined his jaw, and there was enough silvery hair atop his head that something of a crew cut could be seen. But the most evident difference was the old scar that sliced down from left cheek to chin, framing a pair of gray-blue eyes quickly reminiscent of a stormy sea.

Yūshō took a deep breath. "I have beaten you before," he grunted defiantly.

"You only escaped me," corrected the _Kämpfer_ in his rough baritone, "you and all the traitors that you would call your students. But we will see all our scattered children reunited under the banner of the Ædonai, Sakaki Yūshō. Dennis McField was only the latest of them to join us—and more will follow his path in the course of time."

"I think we both know that Dennis would never join you of his own free will," Yūshō shot back. "What did you do—force him to act like he knew the man he only _thought_ you were? Just what did you do with the _real_ Herman von Stadion, _Kämpfer_?! Did you make him one of your pawns, too?"

A shrug. "Even pawns have some usefulness," he said simply. "von Stadion outlived his a long time ago."

Yūshō blinked. Then, fury creased his face, and he bent his knees in a classic Dueling stance. "That man was a dear friend to me," he growled, every syllable dripping with rage. "For his sake, and for my son, I will make sure you regret _everything_ you did today. All the people you've crossed—the innocent men, women, and children your so-called army has hurt—they will watch you in your last breath, and curse the day you were born!"

As one, they drew five cards apiece, and LP gauges set themselves to 4000. "Let's go! _DUEL!_ "

At once, the alley began to shift and morph around them. The brick walls either side retreated into nothingness, replaced by a wide street lit up with so many billboards and lights that it would not have looked out of place in Times Square. The _Kämpfer_ —standing at a sidewalk on the other end of the street from Yūshō, was seen to nod at this, perhaps recognizing it from some long-forgotten memory of his.

"Action Field: _Magical Broadway_ ," he murmured. "Yes … I did remember seeing this a few times while I was in New York. It was your favorite, if I recall correctly. You were always about how things looked—the glitz and the glam, the pop and the presentation. And I'm sorry to say that's your weakness, Yūshō. You are so concerned with how you want the world to look—how you want it to _be_ —that you fail to see it for what it actually _is_.

"I Set one card," continued the _Kämpfer_ , directing his attention to the Duel at hand, "and end my turn." He looked at Yūsho silently—saying nothing but seeming to spur him into action. As if he had all the time in the world, he took out a pair of dark blue gloves from a pocket, unrolled them, and put them over his hands, one at a time.

"My turn, then. Draw!" Yūshō drew his card with all the theatricality of a sword-and-sandals movie star pulling out his blade. "I'll start by using my Scale 1 _Entermate Smile Magician_ and my Scale 5 _Entermate Laugh Maker_ to Set the Pendulum Scale!" He plucked a pair of cards out of his hand, and placed them on opposite ends of his blade.

The effect was immediate: spotlights flickered on all over the holographic city, whirling and weaving until they came to rest atop the pinnacles of two skyscrapers. A tall man stood atop each one; one, a blond in a top hat, white coat, and dark tails; the other was garishly dressed with purple hair, twirling a baton in one hand, and a deck of playing cards in the other.

"With this, I can Special Summon as many monsters from my hand as I please, whose Levels range from 2 to 4!" said Yūshō. " **PENDULUM SUMMON!** Come forth, my monsters! _Entermate Revue Dancer_ , _Entermate Sky Pupil_ , and _Entermate Pendulum Magician_!"

As if swinging from an impossibly high trapeze, _Laugh Maker_ and _Smile Magician_ jumped down from their perches, gliding towards the field in the same wide arc. They met in the middle—and kept on going—but in doing so had revealed three new monsters so quickly it was as though they'd popped out of the ground. All of them were dressed in outfits of many vivid colors: a gymnast in an elaborate leotard (Level 3: ATK 800/ _DEF 1000_ ), a masked jester with a pair of golden hoops (Level 3: ATK 800/ _DEF 800_ )—and between them, a young man with blue hair and a red-and-silver top hat and tuxedo (Level 4: ATK 1500/ _DEF 1000_ ), all posed together in an elaborate formation that, for good measure, lit up every street sign behind Yūshō in an eye-popping display.

"Impressive," was all that the _Kämpfer_ said. "I wonder if your son knows you've been stealing from his _toy box?_ "

"You wouldn't understand what it's like to pass on your gift to your _own flesh and blood_ ," snarled Yūshō. "All you did was steal _children_ and force your so-called "gifts" on them without even giving them a choice! That's right—I know why you attacked my school … and it wasn't just because your minions wanted to play with their new toys."

The _Kämpfer_ nodded. "I see. So you did spirit the girls away, then."

"Even I don't know where they are now." Yūshō managed a smirk. "And that's the point. You'll never get them back—not as long as I draw breath. Even Leo's _favorite doll_ won't be able to bend them to her will.

" _Pendulum Magician's_ effect!" he cried. "By targeting and destroying up to 2 cards on my field, I can add that many _Entermate_ monsters with different names from my Deck to my hand! I target and destroy my _Laugh Maker_ and my _Smile Magician_!" He extracted a pair of cards from his Deck with a devilish smirk; meanwhile, the two men on trapezes, having alighted on the same towers that each other's partner had occupied before, took a bow in tandem before bursting into photonic dust.

"My _Revue Dancer's_ effect allows her to be Released twice for an Advance Summon!" Yūshō went on, "and so I'll use her to Advance Summon my _Entermate Sky Magician_!" With a graceful backflip, _Revue Dancer_ whirled out of existence, replaced almost immediately by a monster in an impeccably white, billowing cape and cap, twirling a number of rings in its hands that glinted like any one of the signs surrounding it (Level 7: ATK 2500/DEF 2000).

Yūshō took a precious few seconds to admire the view of his iconic monster. "Next, by Releasing a non-Pendulum _Entermate_ monster, I can Special Summon _Entermate Sleight Hand Magician_ from my hand through its own effect! So I Release _Sky Pupil_!"

The lad flipped his rings upon hearing his name, contorted himself through them as they fell—and for a moment, it seemed as though he'd simply disappeared inside them. But a moment later, the rings landed one on top of the other with a clatter, and a tall figure whooshed from inside with barely a sound: somewhere between a knight and a jester, with a meter-long shard of intricately cut crystal where its legs ought to be (Level 7: ATK 2500/DEF 2000).

"Finally, I activate the Continuous Spell: _Magician's Encore_!" said Yusho, gesturing flamboyantly as his twin aces struck a pose. "Once and only once, while it is face-up on my field, I can target and Special Summon a Level 3 or lower Spellcaster-Type monster from my Graveyard! I Special Summon _Sky Pupil_ back to my field!"

 _Sky Magician_ juggled its rings, tossing them one at a time to _Sleight Hand Magician_ , who caught each one around his baton and twirled them all in a mesmerizing dance. Then—as if he had never left— _Sky Pupil_ rocketed out from the ensemble, even taking the time to snatch a few of _Sky Magician's_ rings right off Sleight Hand Magician's baton along the way with a crafty giggle (Level 3: _ATK 800_ /DEF 800).

" _Sky Magician's_ effect!" cried Yūshō. "Once per turn, if I activate a Spell Card, it gains 300 ATK!" A sudden wind billowed through the alley from out of nowhere, making _Sky Magician's_ cape flutter about noisily as its ATK grew to **_2800_**. "Now for its second effect—during either player's turn, I can target a Continuous Spell I control, return it to my hand, and then activate another one from my hand! I target, return, and then reactivate _Magician's Encore_ —and that means I can use its effect once more! This time, I'll revive my _Entermate Revue Dancer_!"

As if springing from a trampoline, the monster in question leaped out from behind him, quite without warning. She cartwheeled in a high and graceful arc through the air, before landing smack in the middle of Yūshō's full troupe of monsters, slashing her club-tipped ribbon every which way like a whip (Level 3: _ATK 800_ /DEF 1000).

"That's it for the headliners—now let's move on to the main event! It's time for Act One!" cried Yūshō, holding a finger to the sky. "Battle Phase! _Revue Dancer_ and _Sky Pupil_! Attack the _Kämpfer's_ Life Points directly!"

This time, it was their turn for a juggling act; _Sky Pupil_ tossed its rings to his partner, who caught each one with both ends of her baton. _Revue Dancer_ contorted on the ball of her foot, building up momentum as she twirled and twirled them above, below, and all around her—before loosing them all at the _Kämpfer_. They struck home an instant later; one hit him full in the chest, and another on the arm that held his Duel Disk—but aside from a brief twinge of pain on his face as he watched his LP gauge slip to 2400, the German giant gave no sign that he'd been harmed at all.

"Act Two!" Two fingers this time. " _Entermate Pendulum Magician_! Attack directly!" The scarlet-clad monster produced a pendulum from within its sleeve, uncoiling the long chain that bound it to its arm. Then, it lashed out at the _Kämpfer_ , its metal edge singing through the air—and striking him in his hip, sending his LP tumbling to 900.

"Now—Act Three!" Yūshō crowed: "the grand finale! _Sleight Hand Magician_ and _Sky Magician_! _Finish him off!_ "

His twin monsters were little more than blurs now; rings flew hither and thither in a display of juggling so intricate and breakneck that an ordinary eye would have lost track of them in seconds. But seconds later, each ring was fired straight at the _Kämpfer_ , whizzing across the field far too quickly for someone of his size to dodge them—and in the midst of them was _Sleight Hand Magician_ , its leg-crystal pointed straight at him like a spear—

"You will not prevail!" shouted the German. " _Gladial Beast Noxious'_ effect! Should my opponent declare a direct attack, I may Special Summon it from my hand and make _it_ the attack target instead!"

Something blue and gold leapt in front of the _Kämpfer_ , catching _Sleight Hand Magician's_ attack between its paws: a leopard-like creature clad in dark purple armor, growling defiantly at the struggling monster it held at bay. The slashing edges of armored claws glinted in the streetlights, looking far sharper than they already were (Level 5: ATK 0/ _DEF 1000_ ).

" _Noxious'_ second effect prevents it from being destroyed by the attack that it absorbed," said the _Kämpfer_ , "and its third effect allows me to send a _Gladial Beast_ monster from my Deck to the Graveyard if it should be Summoned by a _Gladial Beast's_ effect—including its own!" he added, sliding a card into his Graveyard slot.

"You're forgetting one thing," smirked Yūshō. " _Noxious_ might have survived that one battle, but I still have one more monster with which to attack! Maybe next time you should put up more of a defense! Right, _Sky Magician_?"

 _BOOM_.

A cloud of dust blew through the Action Field, forcing Yūshō to cover his eyes and his mouth to avoid choking. "So—you ready to tell me where my son is now?!" he shouted at the cloud, where he knew the _Kämpfer_ stood—

He took a step backwards. " … W-what?!" The dark silhouette he'd just seen was far too big to be his opponent.

" _Not yet_ ," said the _Kämpfer_ from somewhere inside the cloud. He emphasized each word with a grave and gravelly finality. "Quick-Play Spell: _Gladial Beast United_. By activating this card during the Battle Phase, and shuffling _Gladial Beast_ monsters into my Deck from my Graveyard, field, or hand, I can Special Summon a _Gladial Beast Fusion_ Monster that lists those monsters as material from my Extra Deck—ignoring its Summoning conditions! From my hand, I shuffle _Gladial Beast Alexander_ , _Gladial Beast Dimacari_ , and _Gladial Beast Laquer_!"

A massive fist—as big around as both of Yūshō's own _twice over_ —punched through the cloud, covered with orange fur, striped with black like a tiger. Yūshō suppressed a gulp; the clawed hand held _Sky Magician's_ rings as though it had just caught them like so many toys—

**"** **Fighting beast of the jungle that lived in ancient times! Merge with the souls of gladiators and become a warrior of legend!"**

Yūshō was barely aware of taking another step backward—then a third and a fourth—as more of the monster began to show itself in the fading dust: a segmented golden shield, wider than he was tall; dark pebbled skin and muscles that bulged underneath pristine armor; a majestic auburn mane, whipping in the wind—

 **"** **Triple Contact Fusion!"** chanted the _Kämpfer_. **"Come!** ** _Gladial Beast Herakleinos_** **!"**

An enormous axe blade of bright, deep gold whirled through the air, dispelling the dust, and the monster revealed itself at last: twenty feet tall, clad in pristine armor, and snarling as though it had just been loosed from whatever chains had held it at bay (Level 8: _ATK 3000_ /DEF 2800). _Sky Magician's_ rings still dangled from its claws—and then, with a snort of utter contempt, _Herakleinos_ crushed them all in his hand as if they were made of tin. Their remnants fell to the street, shattering in front of Yūshō—and were trampled further still by the _Gladial Beast's_ bulk.

The _Kämpfer_ brushed the last remnants of dust off his suit jacket. "You see, Yūshō?" he said, as _Herakleinos_ closed the distance between them. "This is where we differ in our views. The world you want to believe in is nothing more than just another illusion your monsters can conjure; it serves only to dazzle the eye, and nothing more. It is only in strength—the complete and total embracement of who we are at our base self—that the world can be _truly_ changed.

"Who are you at your _base self_ , Sakaki Yūshō?" he goaded. "Is your veneer of the entertainer another one of your illusions? Or do I see you for what you are now—a showman whose act has ended, but refuses to leave the stage? Admit it!" _Herakleinos_ roared from beside him, as if to underscore the verbal assault. "The man you are at the core is nothing compared to the man I am at _mine_. I am a warrior—a fighter! _Ich bin ein Kämpfer der Ædonai!_ "

"You're a misguided fool, is what you are," spat Yūshō, suddenly tense; he'd just seen a glint of light barely meters away. "The show must go on, as the old saying goes—no matter what happens to the cast or the crew! _That_ is who I am at my base self! I am a man who will not quit, until his job is done!"

He made a dash for the Action Card, swiping it up without further ado. "When you Summoned _Herakleinos_ , you triggered a replay—and that means my _Sky Magician_ can still attack again!"

"Then you have a choice to make," the _Kämpfer_ said simply. "Will you attack my _Noxious_ , knowing full well that to do so will leave me still alive, and with the more dangerous threat on my field?" He gestured to his _Herakleinos_. "Or do you still think that your last gasp of wishful thinking will give you the card you need to defeat it? What is more important to you—your survival, or my defeat?"

Yūshō drew himself to his full height. "Neither of them," he responded defiantly, "not when weighed against the survival of my son!" He made a dash for another twinkle of light, and slipped it into his fingers moments later.

" _Sky Magician!_ Attack _Gladial Beast Herakleinos_! And this time," he added, "he's going to add a little more _pizzazz_ to the show, thanks to this Action Card: _High Dive_! I can target a monster on the field, and make it gain 1000 ATK until the end of this turn!" The white-clad magician surged forth, ready to deliver the final blow—

 _SMASH_.

 _Herakleinos_ had swiped out with its heavy axe, toppling the façade of a nearby theater with a clamorous noise of shattering glass and splintering wood, instantly burying _Sky Magician_ under a tsunami of wreckage. The collapse of the building shook the earth enough to make Yūshō stumble, and to send several tiny rectangular lights dislodged from their hiding places. One of them fluttered right into the _Kämpfer's_ waiting palm.

" _Herakleinos'_ effect," he grunted. "By discarding a card, I can negate the activation of any one Spell or Trap, and destroy that card! I discard this Action Card: _Illusion Fire_ to negate and destroy your _High Dive_! And since the monsters on our fields have not changed, the attack cannot be redone … and your _Sky Magician_ is destroyed."

The _Kämpfer_ cracked his neck. "Now, as that was the last of your monsters to attack, you have no reason to remain in your Battle Phase," he said to a shell-shocked Yūshō—his Life Point gauge now at 3800. "And now my _Noxious'_ final effect activates: at the end of a Battle Phase in which it battled, I may shuffle it into my Deck, and Special Summon another _Gladial Beast_ in its place! **_Tag Out_** _—Gladial Beast Murmillo!_ "

He threw out his hand, and _Noxious_ shimmered with light, its lithe and sinewy form mutating into something sleeker and broader at the shoulder. Then, the light dimmed, and revealed a blue-skinned and -scaled fish-man, with a pair of conch shells half its size on either shoulder (Level 3: _ATK 800_ /DEF 400).

" _Murmillo's_ effect activates if it was Special Summoned by a fellow _Gladial Beast's_ effect," said the Kämpfer, "and allows me to target and destroy a monster on the field! I target your _Sleight Hand Magician_!"

Without warning, a pair of missiles erupted from the conches _Murmillo_ carried, zooming straight for the monster— _Sleight Hand Magician_ sprang away, attempting to evade them—

—and Yūshō, somehow, snapped out of his funk for long enough to rush for another Action Card. "I activate—"

"You will _not_!" bellowed the _Kämpfer_ , and _Herakleinos_ began to lay waste to more of the Action Field, leaving gashes and craters in the street and the stages either side with the blade and butt of its axe. Occasionally, more Action Cards fell to the ground, but the German paid them no mind—save for the one that landed nearest him.

"I can activate _Herakleinos'_ effect during any player's turn, at any point in their turn—and as many times that turn as I wish!" the German shouted as he slipped the card he'd purloined into his Graveyard slot. "I discard the Action Card: _Illusion Dance_! Whatever card you hold in your hands is useless now! _Useless_ — _USELESS—_ _ **USELESS!**_ "

As if to drive the point home, a particularly solid piece of debris slammed into _Sleight Hand Magician's_ skull, hard enough that it shattered the crystal top on which it hovered. The rest of it shattered soon after, pulverized into dust.

The _Kämpfer_ knew Yūshō's big mistake had been wandering into the false sense of security he had created. Perhaps he'd anticipated that the single card he'd Set would have devastating effects, and so had attempted to play around that by maximizing the amount of monsters he controlled, and ordering them to attack from weakest to strongest in a ploy to bait him into using that card. But Yūshō had gotten too greedy, the _Kämpfer_ knew—too blinded by his own failure to save his only son—and the emotions that stemmed from that attachment had become his undoing. Add that to _Herakleinos_ being tailor-made to turn the very concept of Action Duels against any Duelist who thrived in them, and their battle might as well be over already.

He did not even wait for the man to end his turn before drawing his card—he knew there was nothing more to be done. "You cannot win, Yūshō," he said—not even daring to gloat, but merely stating a fact. "The glitz and glamour you call entertainment mean nothing to me—only strength and the thrill of battle.

"Since I control a _Gladial Beast_ monster, I may Special Summon _Slave Tiger_ from my hand with its own effect! And then"—the _Kämpfer_ paused to watch an armored tiger leap next to _Herakleinos_ (Level 3: _ATK 600_ /DEF 300)—"I Release it to activate its second effect: by shuffling a _Gladial Beast_ I control into the Deck, I can Special Summon another one in its place as though a _Gladial Beast_ had Special Summoned it instead—and so I shuffle my _Murmillo_! **_Tag Out_** — _Gladial Beast Darius_!"

As _Slave Tiger_ shattered with a yowling roar, _Murmillo_ began to shimmer in much the same way as _Noxious_ had before it. There was a flash of light—and then something huge and muscular stomped onto the field in its place—a purple-skinned, horse-headed behemoth roughly a head taller than its Summoner (Level 4: _ATK 1700_ /DEF 300).

" _Darius'_ effect!" bellowed the _Kämpfer_. "If a _Gladial Beast_ monster's effect Special Summoned it, I can target a _Gladial Beast_ in my Graveyard and Special Summon it with its effects negated, then shuffle it into my Deck when _Darius_ leaves the field! I revive the _Gladial Beast_ I sent with _Noxious'_ effect— _Gladial Beast Octavius_!"

A shadow covered the Action Field just then—just long enough for Yūshō to look up and see the armored eagle land next to _Herakleinos_ with a _THUD_. It spread its wings wide, revealing golden-brown feathers the size of sword blades, and bright green armor plating its clawed arms and legs (Level 7: _ATK 2500_ /DEF 1200).

The _Kämpfer_ curled his gloved hands into fists; Yūshō saw them crackling with electricity. "BATTLE PHASE!" thundered the German. " _Gladial Beast Darius_ —attack _Sky Pupil_! _Gladial Beast Octavius_ —attack _Revue Dancer_!"

The two monsters took one look at the monsters rampaging right towards them—and turned to run too late. _Darius_ charged down _Sky Pupil_ before it had gotten ten paces, butting it into another theater with enough force to leave a crater in the wall—and leave very little behind of _Sky Pupil_. _Octavius'_ talons snatched _Revue Dancer_ in its iron grip, and did much the same to her a moment later as _Darius_ had done to _Sky Pupil_. The last that was seen of the luckless gymnast was her body being buried under a collapsing billboard; the shockwave that followed struck Yūshō full-force, ravaging his LP gauge until it stood at a mere 800.

The _Kämpfer_ looked him full in the eye. "Show's over, Yūshō," he growled. "Thus always to the foes of the Ædonai, and those who betray them! _Herakleinos_ , destroy _Pendulum Magician_ — ** _Herculean Charge!_** "

And with a bellow, the monster was off, holding its shield high and rumbling down the field like a fully loaded freight train. _Herakleinos_ plowed straight through _Pendulum Magician_ , barely even stopping or slowing down as photonic viscera bounced right off its armor—

 _WHAM_.

The _Kämpfer_ had crossed his arms against his breast, and his gloves had sparked again: at that precise moment, his Fusion Monster had slammed right into Yūshō—and kept on moving, crushing him between the Solid Vision of the Action Field, and that of the shield he bore. The building man and monster had careened into began to crumble from top to bottom, collapsing on top of them both.

Even before the field began to shimmer out of existence—Yūshō's Life Points now fully depleted—the _Kämpfer_ knew that his monster's final attack had affected their physical surroundings. Already he could see the crater in the building behind where his luckless opponent had been standing, the shattered glass of windows and progressively larger bits of brick littering the alleyway.

Yūshō himself was sprawled inside the center of that debris, unmoving and clearly unconscious, his clothes and top hat completely ruined and torn. Blood leaked from a gash on the back of his head, more of it stained the breast of his jacket, and his arms and legs were riddled with a dozen scrapes and wounds apiece.

The victorious _Kämpfer_ looked at the grisly sight, shaking his head sadly, before turning in the opposite direction. " _Kämpfer_ to all points," he muttered into his Duel Disk. "Situation is fiver-zero. Primary objective complete—withdraw and regroup to pursue secondary targets. Out."

He fiddled with his Duel Disk until the bright blue sphere of a dimensional portal shimmered before him, and he stepped through without looking back at the chaos and destruction he had wrought—whether by the hand of his forces, or his own.

Throughout the city, soldiers would be disengaging their attacks, pulling back and retreating back to their various bases in the Fusion Dimension. Their victory was far from complete—but all that mattered to the _Kämpfer_ was that his mission had been successful. The survivors would rest, and spread the tales of what they had done to the rest of their fighting forces—invigorating them for when the next battle came.

As the _Kämpfer_ disappeared from the Pendulum Dimension, he hoped that his victory would be the first of many …

* * *

_Leo Duel School_

Akaba Himika's office was rarely host to so many people. Six out of seven members of the LID were present to the left of her desk, standing between her and the monolithic slab of Angel-IQ's mainframe. All were scuffled, winded, and—in Fuyu's case—mildly bloodied. But he'd washed the worst of it off before coming in; aside from his badly torn jumpsuit, he looked no more or less unhurt than the rest of his team.

To her right, the four members of the Lancers who'd managed to respond to the _Chaos Giants'_ assault lounged in chairs, all utterly silent. Masumi's gaze traveled from Shiun'in Sora, sullen and bruised, to Gongenzaka Noboru, stiff as a ramrod and arms crossed so tightly they reminded her of a former teammate in China. Kurosaki Shun's arms were crossed as well, but he was slightly more relaxed, and an ugly grimace was flickering across his face. Lastly was Sawatari—Masumi still could not believe Rika's story of how he and his friends had taken out five of those _Chaos Giants_ between them. But he'd backed his story up so well that she couldn't find any hint of embellishment, and over time, her aloof attitude towards the boy had morphed into a sort of grudging respect.

All of them had traded their stories of battle, compared their accomplishments with their teammates, related stories awesome, grisly, and even mysterious. Sora had found Masumi's tale of the two girls she'd seen after her Duel with Yaiba particularly engaging, but when she pressed him as to why, he hadn't said anything.

That had been five minutes ago. But the victorious mood had gone out the window when Himika entered the room, and projected a split series of images on the windowpane behind her that had stunned both Lancers and LID alike.

On the left side of the screen was live video of Akaba Reiji—his fingers steepled under his chin, his ubiquitous scarf still wrapped round his neck, and sitting down God-only-knew-where. To the right was Dennis McField, supine and unconscious on a hospital bed, his head bandaged so thoroughly that not a single frizzed orange hair could be seen—and in the center of them, laying on an identical bed, was the broken, bloodied form of Sakaki Yūshō.

Himika commenced her report without any preamble. "Emergency responders found him in an alleyway," she said, gesturing to Yūshō. "Seven cracked ribs—five of them broken, three in multiple places—internal bleeding in the diaphragm, a collapsed lung, and enough blunt force trauma to cause hairline fractures in his lumbar vertebrae. We suspect he was Dueling, but that the safety systems had been disengaged without his knowledge or his consent."

Masumi felt herself cringe with every successive injury the headmistress listed. _How could anyone survive that?!_

"The ERs found Dennis with him, out cold," Himika went on. "Blunt force trauma to the head. Maiami General is stabilizing Yūshō as we speak so the police can question them both, but I don't want to wait that long."

She stood up. "Reiji and I have been scanning surveillance footage for any sign of who could have attacked them like this," she told them. "There weren't any cameras inside the Duel site, so I'm afraid all I have is external video. This is what we've found so far."

The images of all three men disappeared, replaced by a grainy feed of a street from slightly overhead; Masumi guessed it was coming from one of the Solid Vision projector nodes that had been used for _Wonder Quartet_.

Then—her breath caught—four familiar figures raced down the sidewalk before ducking into an alley. Or at least, her mind amended, two familiar figures, carrying one more apiece over their shoulders. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sora lean forward, looking suddenly less sullen than before as he took in the sight.

"There's Yūya and Yuzu," Rika piped up from next to Hotene, "and Dennis, too! But … who's that with them?"

"That old strongman who teaches at LDS Broadway," Masumi murmured. "Herman von Stadion."

"Probably looking for a place to hide," said Yaiba next to her. "But something feels off about that. None of them strike me as somebody who'd run away from a fight. More than that, you'd think he'd actually want the three of them to fend off any attackers, if he was interested in their Dueling abilities like Masumi here was saying."

Reiji's picture blipped onscreen again to one side of the video. "I have a suspicion that he was interested in more than that," the sixteen-year-old _wunderkind_ mused out loud. "There—Yūshō is going in after them. Probably to have his Duel." And indeed, the red jacket of the man was unmistakable as he sprinted into the same alley.

Reiji suddenly produced his mobile. "I was afraid of that," he sighed. "LDS Broadway just answered my message. They did have a staff member named Herman von Stadion, and he was a strongman as well as a teacher there."

Hotene frowned. "Was?" she chirped.

"Was," echoed Reiji heavily. "Someone tipped off the NYPD—said he'd been acting strangely—and the NYPD tipped me off in turn. They searched his office, and found a _Duel Monsters_ card in his desk drawer. It contained a picture of him. _Only_ him."

Masumi felt a deep pit yawn open in her stomach. "They sealed von Stadion," she murmured, unable to believe it. "Before they even attacked Maiami City … " She felt an acid taste in her mouth, and bit her tongue to ward it off. "Dennis told me he'd flown in with him from New York—he could've been attacked at any time over there."

The dam burst. "Dennis _knew_ who he was," she growled. "He _knew_ we'd be attacked— _and he didn't say a word!_ "

Gongenzaka was shaking his head. "How did we not hear about this until just now?"

"I asked the police in New York the same thing when they contacted me," said Reiji. "I am … still waiting for an answer. I can only imagine how embarrassed they must feel that this happened right under their nose."

"But there's no way that ruse could've held water for long!" Hokuto blurted out. "Sealing an innocent man is one thing. Posing as him is another!"

"Precisely," said Himika. "Whoever attacked von Stadion didn't want it to hold water for long—just long enough. We're assuming von Stadion's assailant either looked a lot like him, or was using a disguise of some sort."

"Then that settles it." Masumi pounded a hand into her fist. She had to bite her lip to stop herself from swearing. "This attack on the city was just a diversion—all of it! Just so that guy could kidnap Yūya and Yuzu. Yūshō must've caught him in the act, tried to stop him … Ugh!" She kicked a nearby chair, suddenly so very angry that she didn't even register the sharp pain in her big toe. "I knew something was off about that old man!" she raged.

Himika was quite unperturbed by her outburst. "I'm checking every camera in every RSV generator we have in the city, and I've sent to scour any points of interest. So far we've found nothing."

Yaiba groaned loudly. "Tell me we at least have a name. American police can't be _that_ bad at their job, can they?"

"This was not an American's doing," said Reiji. "And as Kurosaki Shun has already stated, this attack was only the latest of several. I have some associates in the other Dimensions who have been sending me updates, in addition to Kurosaki before he escaped the attack on Heartland Tower in the Xyz Dimension. The former Executive Council in the Synchro Dimension was able to send out a general distress call before all contact with the City was lost. I have also been advised of multiple _coups-d'état_ within the Fusion Dimension's foremost world power, the Kingdom of Misgarth—including inside their capital city, as well as their branch of the You Show Duel School that was headed by Sakaki Yūshō. All of my sources have claimed these assaults were coordinated by—"

"Markus Streiter."

Everyone spun in the direction of Sora. The boy didn't immediately see that all eyes were on him.

"I … I know who that is," he said hesitantly. "He wrote just about everything I had to read for my military engagement classes at Academia. The man was a tactical genius when it came to war—a modern-day Sun Tzu. And he could hold his own in a Duel as well—most of my professors who went to the school with him called him the _Kämpfer_."

He sighed. "Trust the child soldier here. He's the only man I could think of that'd have the brains _and_ the stones to stage an attack on all four Dimensions at the same time. And if he did … " He swallowed, and shook his head.

Shun was muttering curses through his clenched teeth. Yaiba, if it was possible, looked even less happy than he did. " … You know, I'm starting to think we _suck_ at this whole 'judging a book by its cover' thing, Masumi," he said scathingly. "This is, what, the third person you've met who was actually a bad guy?"

The Fusion Duelist glared at him. "I'd clobber you," she huffed, "if I didn't think you were so very _right_."

"But how did Yūya and Yuzu not know who he was?" Noboru looked completely lost, and needed a moment to explain himself. "Sora just said this Markus Streiter person not only went to Academia, but wrote entire books that the school used in their curriculum. The Fusion counterparts of Yūya and Yuzu went to Academia as well—so why did they not recognize him like Sora did just now?"

"I didn't know Yūri as well as I should have," answered Sora grimly. "But I can only guess he was a lot less interested in the theory of _Duel Monsters_ as he was in its practice. I don't know enough about Serena to tell you if she was the same way. In any case," he shrugged, "Streiter was 'old guard'. He'd made his mark on Academia before you and I were even born."

Himika tapped at her keyboard. "Reiji pulled Streiter's file on one of his excursions there a few years ago. It took him quite a bit of time and effort to decrypt it, but it came with the picture that most of his textbooks had on their covers." Moments later, that picture materialized beside Reiji's own—a black-and-white image depicting a tall, muscular old man in a crew cut. Masumi was quick to note the facial similarities between him and Herman von Stadion—but von Stadion had never borne such an ugly scar across his face … or such a dangerous glint in his dark eyes.

"Graduated Academia at sixteen," said Himika, perhaps reading an annotated version of Streiter's accomplishments, "semi-pro Duelist until eighteen when he joined the self-defense forces of the Kingdom of Misgarth. Even before then, he had gained a reputation for being a fighter who didn't back down; it was one reason why they called him _Kämpfer_. He worked his way up through the ranks, slowly but surely, disappeared from public knowledge bit by bit—and by the time he apparently decided to return to his old school on a whim, and become one of its highest-ranking personnel, he had attained the rank of Colonel in the kingdom's intelligence division without hardly a peep."

Kurosaki was nodding. "He was the supreme commander of Academia's entire military might," the Xyz ace said gruffly, "answerable only to their headmaster. And he was careful about it, too. This is the only picture of him I've seen in my life—same for Yūto and Ruri, and everyone else in the Resistance. But he made sure to drip enough info about himself that we knew he wasn't just a wild-goose chase in the making. A lot of us wanted a crack at Edo Phoenix back when he commanded the forces that invaded Heartland—we thought he was the only person in Xyz who'd ever seen Streiter's face, and so we thought defeating him would have found us a way through to his master."

"According to my sources," said Reiji, "Streiter—like most of the school's senior personnel—was forcibly retired after the Interdimensional War to avoid standing trial for war crimes. He's been out of the public eye since."

" … Until today," Fuyu murmured.

"Yes." Himika grimaced through grinding teeth. "It would seem his fight's not over yet. And as for Edo Phoenix," she added, "Reiji has told me that he was inside You Show Fusion when it was attacked. He has since been declared missing in action. Most survivors of the attack agree that he was captured, and quite possibly sealed."

"But why are they doing any of this?" Hotene was clutching at her messy hair helplessly. "If Academia isn't around anymore, then there's no reason for Markus to fight for them still. Is he fighting for someone else?"

Mother and son traded the same uneasy glance. "I've been listening to various media chatter and corroborating everyone else's stories with Reiji," said Himika after a short silence. "The timing and coordination of these attacks suggests the existence of an organization that is just as expansive, well-staffed, and ambitious as the original Academia. The rumors I've been hearing in the time since seem to confirm that existence is true."

"They call themselves the Ædonai," Reiji explained, "from an old Hebrew word for 'lords'. On the surface, they appear to be a dissident movement based in the Fusion Dimension, but the truth is somewhat more complicated than that. Most of their membership was formed from the bulk of the Obelisk Force and several well-connected loyalists of the old Academia, which is why so many of them were seen today using _Antique Gear_ Decks. It also has to be assumed they've been not only stockpiling the same technology that allows them to traverse the dimensions and seal human beings into cards, but improving on it as well."

"If it's true—and I'm sorry to say it looks that way—it constitutes a violation of the treaty that officially ended the Interdimensional War," said Himika. "You've all heard the breaking news updates on the way over. Two hundred forty-nine citizens of Maiami City sealed—men, women, children—and that doesn't count the soldiers who sealed themselves. Three hundred twenty-seven injured, a hundred and thirty-two critically, in the ensuing chaos—human stampedes, car accidents, and God knows what else. All because the blades of the Duel Disks these Ædonai possess can now seal any object they pierce into a card. Even if it's a human being—and even if it's outside of a Duel."

Masumi felt a dull thud in her chest with every triple-digit number she heard. She was no stranger to massacres and terrorist attacks by now. Only a few months ago, she'd been a casualty in an attack that had left more than thirty people dead and many more injured. But this … this had been a full-scale battle, the plans of an entire group of people rather than only one or two of them.

"They're not even bothering with honorable battle this time," Noboru snorted. "Whatever they want, they're even more desperate to make it happen than Academia was back then."

"I do not believe they are acting out of desperation, Gongenzaka," said Himika, "but rather out of devotion. What makes the Ædonai so dangerous in my eyes is not the improvements they have made on existing technology, or their intent to cause even more chaos and destruction than their predecessors. It is the simple fact that my son has stated with certainty that they view Fusion Monsters as superior to all other monsters that are Summoned from the Extra Deck. To them, it is more than just method, but an entire ideology—and Fusion Summoning is how they practice that ideology. For lack of a better term," she said, grimacing, "they consider it a philosophical calling … or even a religious duty."

She looked round at all the faces that stared at her as if she'd gone mad. " … No, I don't understand it any more than you do. But everything I have seen and heard of them today suggests that they are not simply a standing army, but a multi-tiered and -celled organization—a _cult_ , I would even say. They have their own tenets of purpose, goals for establishing themselves in common society, rewards for success—and, as we have all seen today, punishments for failure. And it is also my understanding," she added, "that an old friend of yours may be among their ranks."

The chairwoman was looking right at Masumi. A horrible feeling of familiarity had settled into the Fusion user's heart. A low moan escaped her lips. "Please tell me you're about to mention some other old friend." Any _other old friend_ , she added in her head. _Someone—anyone besides who I think she's talking about—_

But her thoughts ended with a long mental curse; Himika had pressed a switch, and another image shimmered in between the video of Reiji and the black-and-white image of Markus Streiter: a tall, lithe female with long hair as green as her eyes. A thin smile played at the edges of her mouth, almost gloating at everyone present in the room.

Gasps and mutters rippled through the LID, and even some of the Lancers. A suddenly fearful Hotene was gripping Rika's arm so tightly that her knuckles were bone-white. Fuyu had paled completely, Hokuto had bared his teeth, and Yaiba's hands had curled into fists. Masumi felt her blood boil at the mere sight of this woman—the memory of everything she had done, all the ways she had violated her mind … her friends' minds, even their _selves_ …

"I gather that not all of you know who this woman is." Himika was looking right at Sora now; the ex-soldier's green eyes were wide open in recognizance and disbelief. "Her name is Gwendolyn Grimm. Until the ill-fated Maiami Championship that introduced the Lancers to the world, she was a low-level counselor inside the Leo Duel School, virtually unknown among the hundreds of employees who work inside this building. What she did not know until a certain point in time was that she was a Psychic Duelist—a warrior of extraordinary mental prowess that she could utilize to enhance her Dueling abilities—and that when she watched Sora's Duel versus Kurosaki in that tournament, it triggered a memory recall that caused her to remember who she was, and what she was there to do. She began forcing herself inside the dreams of my students, and enslaving them into her puppets by beating them in Duels."

Kurosaki and Sora traded glances of identical surprise. Sawatari's eyes bugged with equal horror and wonderment. "She could Duel people while they _slept_?!" he murmured. "Make them dream about her, Freddy Krueger-style?"

"Something like that," Yaiba said angrily. "She was _sick_. Twisted. The things we saw her do to Hotene and Fuyu were just … " He shuddered, looking abnormally green. "I'm never going to forget the screaming … _never_ … "

"Dr. Grimm was here—in Maiami City?" Sora had finally found his voice. "All this time, right over my shoulder … and I didn't even know about it?!" He exhaled, and sat down. "Wow. She covered her tracks pretty well."

"Not well enough," Masumi told him. "I was one of the Duelists she tried to ensnare. It was because I was so good at Fusion Summoning that I landed on her radar in the first place. But I got too smart—too curious … too far in. I'd made some friends along the way, and with their help, I blew her cover and forced her to flee. That's how the LID was formed in the first place—almost every one of us had a hand in beating her at her own game."

She gestured to them all, one at a time: Hotene waved back, giggling; Fuyu inclined his head shyly. Hokuto—who'd been the literal heart and soul of them all during that fateful Duel—couldn't resist a smug grin, and Yaiba crossed his arms as if defeating a Psychic Duelist was a badge of honor. It probably was to somebody somewhere, Masumi thought—but the knowledge of what that fight had nearly cost her didn't make it feel honorable at all.

Sora, for his part, was regarding them all with what Masumi thought might have been the same respect she'd given Sawatari. The rest of the Lancers had varying degrees of appreciation written on their faces as well. Noboru certainly looked respectful enough—even sympathetic. Kurosaki, meanwhile, was looking them up and down one by one; Masumi wondered if he was sizing them up, deciding which of them was the most powerful for being able to stand against a Psychic Duelist. She decided he could wait to find out it didn't work that way—Decks and Dueling styles didn't matter against unknown quantities like Dr. Grimm, but heart and soul certainly did.

"Yes, well," sighed Himika, "we … never did manage to track her down after that. Our assumption was that she'd gone into hiding, or simply fled back to her masters—but she played a secondary role in the _Infernoid_ incident that nearly destroyed Maiami City a few months ago. When Academia was brought down, there weren't any sightings of her then, either. No one ever remembered seeing her in real life or in their dreams—she just … disappeared."

"How do you know she's with these Ædonai people, then?" asked Hokuto.

"She is a powerful Fusion Duelist—you yourselves have told my mother as much," said Reiji. "And power tends to gravitate towards other, higher powers. There was always the possibility that more advanced Fusion Duelists than Gwendolyn Grimm existed in her dimension, and that she would seek them out if Academia ever went defunct."

"And now she's used these powers of hers to turn Yūya and Yuzu into puppets?!" Shun's teeth looked halfway to powder, so intently was he grinding them. Masumi thought she knew why; having the last remnants of his sister being enslaved into a servant of the very thing he'd sworn to defeat was bad enough. Being forced to go through it _again_ …

But Sora shook his head. "She doesn't work like that. Someone like Grimm prefers the shadows, where less people can see her. _Maybe_ she had something to do with what Masumi told us happened to them both in their Duel," he admitted, "but it's more likely that she taught Markus a few of her tricks, and he used them on Yūya and Yuzu at You Show. He was alone with them long enough over there that he definitely had a window of opportunity."

"So you think Grimm's working with this Markus guy?" Masumi felt faint. Dealing with one _élite_ Fusion Duelist had been trouble enough. Having to deal with two at the same time …

"The notion that she might be is not what concerns me," said Himika. "What troubles me more is that Grimm and Markus might be working together … but taking their orders from someone _else_."

There was a long silence. "Who?"

Himika's eyes alighted briefly on Rika. "I wish I knew. Reiji and I are still attempting to reach out to the various intelligence sectors. But I do know someone who might give us a more timely answer. Before that, however, we must make preparations for if and when the Ædonai strike back at us with greater numbers."

"About that?" Sora had stepped forward. "I've been doing some thinking on this, and I don't like where my train of thought's been taking me."

Himika frowned. "Explain."

Sora gulped. "You mentioned that Edo Phoenix was declared MIA, correct?" Reiji nodded. "Okay. Well, first it was him. Then we found Dennis in that alley—so he must've been attacked next. Now it's Yūya and Yuzu that've been kidnapped," Sora went on. "Do you know what they have in common?"

"They used Fusion Monsters." It took several moments before Masumi realized that had been her voice—and that Sora was looking right at her. " … Um," she added hastily, "I was just guessing off what I knew … "

"Not just any Fusion Monsters," the former soldier said. "Fusion Monsters that _came from the Fusion Dimension_. These tend to be a lot more powerful than your _Gem-Knights_ , Masumi—and from what I've seen and heard of those," he added hurriedly, seeing the Fusion Duelist raise a testy eyebrow, "I don't say that lightly. That's not meant to sound like an insult, either; this is a known fact of any monster that's Summoned from the Extra Deck outside of its home dimension. Kurosaki's _Raid Raptors_ are a good example of that. Ditto for my _Des-Toys_.

"And that's why I'm so worried." He unwrapped a fresh lollipop with trembling fingers, and stuck it in his mouth. "If the Ædonai are targeting people that use high-energy Fusion Summons—like former students of Academia—then it's very possible that _I_ could be the next guy on their list."

Silence. "Think about it," Sora told them all, his lollipop stick dancing in his lips with every word he spoke. "What good does it do the Ædonai to attack Maiami City if they don't have a way to attack _us_? That must've been why Markus went for Dennis first—he knew Dennis had experience as an infiltrator, especially when he was with the Lancers. Either one of them could have gotten to _me_ next if this attack had gone on for long enough!"

Noboru stepped forward. "You know the noble Gongenzaka will not let them capture you, Sora," he said resolutely.

Shun and Shingo approached him, too. "Right," said the former. "You've been pretty tough to get along with—"

"—and kind of a jerk—" added Shingo.

"—but you're a damned good Duelist," finished Shun, smiling slightly. "We'd hate to lose you to those bastards."

Sora smiled. Masumi could tell it was genuine—it was the same smile she herself had worn when her friends had reassured her in her most perilous moments. "Thanks, guys," he said. "I mean it."

"If that is all," said Himika, "we must return to the matter at hand. Reiji—you will take command of the Lancers and make sure that Sora is well protected. Have some of the senior LDS staff assigned to guard Dennis as well. If Sora's instincts are correct, then Dennis' actions today may not have been of his own accord. We should therefore take every action in making sure he remains out of harm's way until he recovers and is properly questioned."

Reiji nodded. "Understood."

"What about Yūya and Yuzu?" Noboru asked, clenching his fist. "Are we simply to forget that Markus Streiter and the Ædonai still have them both in their clutches?"

"That is your second priority," Himika replied. "Reiji will speak with you once he has found a lead on where they might have gone. As for the Ædonai … if and when they strike again, we must be prepared. We have faced graver threats to Maiami City than a few handfuls of soldiers—and with less of a membership, I feel the need to add."

"There was one other thing." Masumi stepped forward. She told Himika and Reiji about the sight she and Yaiba had seen after their Duel, of the girls with colorful hair and strange Duel Disks who looked like Yuzu.

Reiji frowned. "I do not know who they are," he said. "But I may know where they are from—and so may Yūshō. Their Duel Disks are similar in design to those used by the students of You Show Fusion—"

"—which the Ædonai also attacked," mused Yaiba. "You think those girls managed to escape them?"

"Possibly." But Reiji didn't sound convinced. "It's equally likely these girls were why the Ædonai attacked at all."

Murmurs and mutters filled the room. "My mother has told me her theories about why they attacked—they hoped to spread our forces too thin, and seize the fragment of the ARC-V reactor we possess. Since this fragment makes our Interdimensional Travel technology far more stable than the transit functions encoded within the Lancers' Duel Disks, losing control of it—in addition to Synchro and Xyz losing theirs, as appears to be the case—all but cripples that technology for anyone without such a fragment. The Ædonai would hold a monopoly over dimensional travel.

"However." He stiffened in his seat. "When the Ædonai attacked LDS and breached it, they showed a remarkable knowledge of its floor plans and inner workings. I strongly believe that Gwendolyn Grimm, or the accomplice she had in the _Infernoid_ incident, gave them that information during their time in LDS. This knowledge would likely have included Angel-IQ and many of my plans to integrate her into the school. And yet"—Reiji tented his fingers again—"the number of soldiers they sent to breach the building and retrieve our fragment of ARC-V was rather minuscule, in comparison with the army that the Lancers and the LID helped to engage. We already know they weren't retreating—they were regrouping. But what if they were doing something more than that? What if they were covering ground instead—searching for a pair of lambs who'd strayed out of the pasture?"

"They had Yuzu's _face_." Masumi crossed her arms as if that would make him accept this as fact. "The _same_ face. Something tells me they're a little more important than _lambs_."

"But not as important as Yuzu herself," said Himika smoothly. "Two children who escaped an attack and appeared out of thin air—or two children who escaped an attack and _vanished_ into thin air? Rescuing Yūya and Yuzu are more important to us right now.

"Now—Masumi." The Fusion user stiffened; Himika was standing up. "You and the LID will be coming with me."

"Where to?" Fuyu looked suspicious—the LID didn't like it whenever the chairwoman got secretive on them.

"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to say," said Himika smoothly. "The Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs—under orders from the United Nations Security Council—have advised that our destination not be publicly disclosed until further notice. There will be procedures we must all follow; I'll explain those once we leave the city limits."

That threw Masumi for a loop. _Leaving the city limits?_ "What are we doing outside of Maiami City?"

Himika sniffed. "We are going," she elaborated, "to interrogate a war criminal."

All the air went out of the room. Every other jaw but Reiji's bounced on the floor.

Hokuto recovered first. "A war criminal?!"

"Of course," Himika said, staring at them as if the answer had been in plain sight all this time. "The Ædonai take much of their membership from the old Academia. And who better to tell us about who leads the Ædonai … than the man who once led Academia?"

She turned to her son. "Alert the Fūma clan chieftain," she told him. "They must be prepared for our arrival."

Reiji nodded without a word. His image disappeared from view a moment later.

The headmistress crossed the length of the room, pulling out her phone. "We'll reconvene in twenty-four hours," she spoke to everyone assembled. "That will be all." Then, into her mobile: "Nakajima—meet me in the garage."

Masumi swayed where she stood, hardly registering the Lancers and the LID filing out of the room after Himika. The very notion of speaking to a criminal of any kind—to say nothing of a _war_ criminal—felt alien to her.

And it felt even more so when _this_ war criminal had given his name to the exact same Duel School she attended.


	9. VIII

VIII

The high-tech surgical theater seared the eyes with shades of blue and green, reflecting off the polished tiles lining the walls. Silver glints of scalpels and needles reflected the harsh glare of the overhead lights in every direction. Save for the muted chatter of the half-dozen surgeons surrounding the twin tables in the center of the chamber, there was total silence—so oppressive and so ominous that it felt as if anything within these four walls, from the smallest of viruses to the largest and fittest of humans, existed only to die at the whims of the people who'd built them.

The largest and fittest of the humans in this room hoped that ominous feeling this room gave him was only that.

"All vitals holding steady," muttered the surgeon at the head of the pack. "Ready the next round of injections."

Markus Streiter moved out of their way as they bustled about—and then, just as quickly, decided the room would be much less crowded without his two-by-point-six-seven meter frame taking up half the free space inside it. So he made for the door, and for the observation gallery on the next level. He squeezed himself up the stairs that led there with some difficulty—they were too cramped for a man who still weighed three hundred-some pounds, even in his sixties—but the onset of old age had taken just enough away from the _Kämpfer_ that he didn't have to resort to a humiliating sidle, as he might have in the prime of his military career.

He presently reached the door to the gallery, pausing only to heave a sigh and adjust his tie. Something was buzzing in his brain, and he frowned; it seemed he wouldn't be alone when he stepped inside. Sure enough, when he opened the door, someone was already inside—and he had an idea of just who it was. Streiter, however, was too focused on the scene below for him to care more than this. From here, he had a much better view of things, unobstructed by all the doctors and specialists that skittered below like ultra-sterilized ghosts.

Sakaki Yūya and Hīragi Yuzu lay side by side, one to each table, unmoving and unconscious. Multiple IV drips had already been hooked up to them, pumping various drugs and fluids into their bodies. Markus thought they looked rather like some sort of bizarre human-jellyfish hybrid, with the amount of tubes that flowed from the walls and into the veins of their arms, their necks—even their mouths, in the case of the breathing apparatus that connected with the tanks of oxygen that lay beneath their own table.

Streiter was no doctor, so he could only guess as to the function of half these substances. All he cared about was what he wanted done—and whether what he was seeing in front of him would get it done. Everything in between was left to the more detail-oriented minds: the unsung heroes who would likely get no credit for their work, no matter how much the _Kämpfer_ —or the woman next to him—would insist they themselves had nothing to do with it.

"One out of three."

Dr. Gwendolyn Grimm—recently reinstated Lieutenant Colonel of the Ædonai—was, in more than one way, _almost half_ of what Streiter was. At thirty-one years old, she was almost half his age, and almost half his weight: he had been one of the few men she'd known as an Academia cadet who could make standing a slender six-two feel small. She was not, however, almost half of what Streiter was in _every_ way. He himself had helped to make sure of that.

"That sort of standard isn't like you, Markus," the Psychic Duelist commented silkily from off to his left, gazing out of the window that separated them from Yūya and Yuzu. She hadn't turned around to address him; the glass showed enough of Streiter's reflection that she didn't need to. Because of where they were standing, however, the only half of her face the _Kämpfer_ could see was the one with the eyepatch that just barely concealed her hideous wound.

"One out of _two_ ," he corrected simply. "The Leo Corporation can keep their piece of the ARC-V reactor—sending our forces after that was merely a part of the distraction. It is enough that we possess the ones from Synchro and Xyz—it means that not only does the only functional corridor lead from the Pendulum Dimension to our own, but it also means less chance of interference from a united force, as opposed to a _divided_ one. Any reinforcements the other Dimensions send will have to risk spatial or even temporal displacement—they will arrive too late to help.

"But"—Streiter sighed—"I do take your meaning. This would go much more swiftly if the _twins_ were still here."

"Then perhaps we should move more swiftly ourselves," said Dr. Grimm, touching under her eyepatch with a tissue. It came away dark and sticky, as if she'd mopped up tar. "LDS will already have alerted both the Lancers and the LID to our existence. They may try to connect their fragment to any one of ours and mobilize for a counterattack."

But Streiter shook his head. "They won't gather that many Duelists in time."

"They could get to those two girls before you do."

"So much the better. By giving the twins asylum, it will simply mean they're right where they ought to be: in our sights. It'll be the same mistake that Edo and You Show made."

"Talking of which," said Dr. Grimm, "you don't seem worried about Yūshō spilling their dirty little secret to LDS."

"It's not their dirty little secret I'm worried about," Streiter replied, "and certainly not Yūshō that I'm concerned will spill it. Besides, I took care of him. He won't be in any condition to spill any secrets for a long while."

Nobody spoke for a while; they observed the proceedings below in silence. Then: "So. We're really doing this?" Dr. Grimm bit her lip; the mass under her eyepatch was pulsing again. "I must admit … I'm feeling rather nervous about how it might play out. You know I don't say anything like that lightly. But to take this next step so soon … "

Streiter turned for the first time, looking Dr. Grimm in her one eye. "You feel you are not up to the task?"

"I'm the only one for the task," she answered. "And I mean the _only_ one. Which, unfortunately, is the problem. You know how much Leo means to me, Markus. If I let those feelings for him get in the way of my duty—well, don't you think it's going to make it that much more difficult for him to join the Ædonai and help fulfill our cause?"

The _Kämpfer_ turned away, and did not speak for some time. "Wendy—do you ever look at your Fusion Monsters," he asked, "and ponder what parts of which monster went where?" He ejected a card from his Duel Disk; there was enough light for Dr. Grimm to make it out as _Gladial Beast Herakleinos_. "It takes three different monsters to bring this out—and it is by no means the strongest in my Deck. But do you see three pairs of arms—three pairs of legs?"

Dr. Grimm had had this conversation before. She'd rolled her eyes back then, as a teenager—and it took all she could to not roll them again. "Just a pair apiece," she replied, "with a lot more bone and muscle to support them."

Streiter nodded. "Many parts, working together," he said quietly, slipping the card back into his Deck. " _Unum in multis, multi in unum_. A true Fusion Summon has no unnecessary elements—it is flawless and sublime, far more so than any creature that a Synchro Summon or an Xyz Summon can hope to create. And just because not all of those elements can be seen does not mean they are expendable. They do not need three hearts, three brains, or three of everything in plain sight for all to see—but enough of each one to work in cooperation."

He glanced at Dr. Grimm again. "What you think of Akaba Leo is irrelevant," the _Kämpfer_ said solemnly, "when compared with what he thinks of you in his heart—and less still next to what he _knows_ of you in his _brain_. That knowledge will serve us well in the future—but before that, we must make every effort to ensure that it does not fall into the hands of the enemy." He set his jaw. "We still have a very long way to go."

Dr. Grimm stared at Yūya and Yuzu. "You never did like to varnish your lessons, did you?"

" _Die werbung hilft vielen Männern_ ," quipped Streiter. " _Die wahrheit hilft einem Mann_."

The Psychic Duelist betrayed a tiny chuckle. "Ironic, to hear that from a German. But then, I always did prefer one target instead of a whole host of them. It must be the _therapist_ in me," she smirked.

"Then you agree your place is here for now." Streiter turned away; he knew that as the _Kämpfer_ , his word was final. "Supervise the first stage of the conditioning—then make sure our listening posts are in place," he ordered. "Once everything is ready, advise the _Direktor_ and await his command. I must contact the _Bestatter_ and make sure our forces in Cairo have been fortified."

"Fortified?" Dr. Grimm frowned. "Do you think it's wise to move the vessels there?"

It was the _Kämpfer's_ turn to smirk. "Let's just say," he told her, "I'd prefer my next trap to do better than _one out of two_. And to that end," he added, punching in some calculations on his Duel Disk, "I need to call in a favor from an old acquaintance before I resume my search for the twins. If we are lucky, he will be well placed to intercept them for us—and perhaps give you an opening of your own as well."

Dr. Grimm laughed gaily. "Oh, Markus. You're going to think yourself into your own labyrinth one of these days!" she giggled. "What will I do when you've got no way out of that brilliant old head on your shoulders?"

That gave Streiter pause. It was easy to forget that a tactical mastermind of his caliber could be sixty-three years old. The twilight years were upon him, he would admit—and war wounds be damned, the woman next to him was at the zenith of her power. But the _Kämpfer_ intended to leave his mark on the dimensions before his sun had set.

"You can start," he said, smiling slightly, "by living long enough to say you told me so."

The Psychic Duelist's smile slid off her face, and she turned away to look at Yūya and Yuzu, suddenly somber. More black slime spattered on the floor from under her eyepatch, and disappeared with a puff of lavender flame.

"Sometimes," she murmured, "there are days when … when I hope I won't have to."

Streiter knew then that the encounter was over. He knew better than to try and psychoanalyze a Psychic Duelist—but he had known Dr. Grimm too long to not know that he'd touched a nerve. She'd gained much experience in her time at Academia, amassed a great deal of power. But there was much she had lost as well—and Streiter suspected her eye had only been the first and least of those losses. Whether more would follow was not for him to find out.

He finished his calculations, and pressed a switch on his Duel Disk. Moments later, the sky-blue energy of a dimensional portal whooshed around him, and he smelled the familiar air of the Pendulum Dimension.

« _Good luck, Markus._ » Dr. Grimm was still looking out at the surgical theater, but Streiter could see enough of her face to know that her lips had not moved an inch. «Unum in multis.»

For all his intelligence, he was no telepath. His gruff baritone replied back, " _Multi in unum_ "—but by then he was amidst the four dimensions, far too late to say farewell to one of the few Duelists he knew exceeded his power.

And might, Streiter thought, yet exceed it further still.

* * *

_Maiami City_

Two jet-black Maybach S650 Pullman limousines glided out of the LeoCorp executive garage and onto the city streets. They entered the main highway, and headed west on a leisurely tack away from downtown.

Masumi's heart rate, however, felt anything but leisurely even as she looked outside the window of her passenger seat. The response to the Ædonai's attack had been swift; citizens and construction crews alike were clustered around destroyed shop fronts and ravaged park plazas, each of them coordinating with each other in that rare sort of way a terrorist attack tended to cause. She didn't even see any looters—though she conceded that the black-and-white Toyotas dotting the roads every so often, lights flashing in warning, might have had something to do with that.

"I feel like we ought to be out there with them," she murmured sadly, thinking of her father's jewelry store, "helping them rebuild." Masumi had called him before getting in the car; while his business was too far removed from the path of destruction to have suffered any appreciable damage, he'd closed up shop early so that he could join in the relief efforts. But Masumi still knew the value of his store's contents—she'd helped appraise some of the jewels personally—and the thought of leaving those unguarded made her heart want to take up permanent residence in her mouth.

She jumped—Yaiba, sitting next to her, had closed his fingers around her own reassuringly. Masumi returned the gesture, smiling slightly and leaning in to him a little more closely. Even before they'd made it official, the Synchro Duelist had shown an uncanny ability to see through her level of stress and defuse it as needed. But the smile didn't last for long—she was too deep in her own thoughts; too busy processing the many facets of the jagged shape that was crystallizing in her brain.

The mood inside the car wasn't helping, either. Yaiba was as silent as an anchor—but that was the best she could say about the atmosphere. Across from her, Himika was drumming her fingers on the armrest, her sharp pink nails making a soft _tink-tink-tink_ against the base of an empty champagne flute. Hokuto was next to her, staring at those nails and looking like he'd much rather be in the other car—with Hotene, Rika and Fuyu—than next to his principal.

In the driver's seat was Nakajima, who was attempting to dissolve the foreboding ambiance with the talk radio show he was listening to. But this, if anything, just made it worse. It sounded prerecorded—Masumi had tried listening intently to it, but pursed her lips in resignation after five minutes of hearing nothing new about the Ædonai attack.

" … One last item for our listeners today"— _thank God_ , Masumi thought—"controversy over the recently opened all-girls Kōrōmu Academy, and the Action Dueling style they are billed as promoting, has ruffled some feathers in the more conservative enclaves of the _Duel Monsters_ community. We're taking calls right now and hearing your thoughts on this so-called 'Skin Dueling'—and whether future broadcasts of _Duel Monsters_ tournaments should come with an age restriction, given the connotations of—"

Himika's nails stopped _tink-tink-tinking_ against her empty glass, and her hand made a violent gesture in the air. Nakajima, perhaps seeing this in his rear-view mirror, immediately shut the radio off without a word.

"Having to arbitrate in legal action is annoying," grumbled the headmistress. Masumi didn't feel like asking.

A few minutes passed in silence. The highway outside snaked on, but the surroundings gradually went from silver-gray to brown and green. Finally Himika moved, bending down towards the briefcase lying innocuously at her feet.

She pressed a switch. "Nakajima—are we connected to the other car?"

There was a thumbs-up from the aide. Then, the windows either side of the passenger cabin turned a smoky gray—and then black as night, darkening the cabin of the car. Seconds later, Masumi saw the translucent holograms of Hotene and Rika shimmering inside one window, sitting where she and Yaiba were in the other car. Both of them had found the time to change out of their gymnastics outfits before they left; Rika had donned mint-colored shorts and a brown tank top over a jacket the color of green tea; her friend, the same lavender romper dress that Masumi had seen her wear when they'd first met. Both girls jabbered away at each other silently, admiring the car's luxurious interior; Masumi guessed the feeds had been muted. Fuyu and—she felt her heart swoop briefly—Professor Marco sat across from them. The former drummed his fingers on the special helmet in his lap in a way that she associated with some compulsion or other; it was plain to see he was even more nervous about this than Masumi was.

Himika pressed another switch. A microphone faintly crackled in Masumi's ears. "Right—can everyone hear me?"

There was a muttered chorus of affirmation.

"Good. Now that we're out of city limits, I can tell you a little more about these security precautions we'll be taking en route to where they're keeping Leo." Himika opened her briefcase, pulling out four heavy black pieces of cloth. "First, all personal technology is to be deactivated at once. That means phones, tablet PCs—and Duel Disks," she said blithely; Masumi and Yaiba exchanged glances. "These have GPS technology that third parties can piggyback and use to triangulate our location, and Leo's along with it."

The three kids reluctantly turned off their devices. Masumi bit her lip, watching the kids in the other car follow suit.

"Secondly." Himika indicated the cloths, and passed them one at a time to Hokuto, Yaiba and Masumi, spreading out the fourth one over her own lap. "You'll put these over your heads when I tell you to—no later, and no sooner."

Hokuto unrolled his own. "Hoods?" he inquired. "Let me guess—so we forget what route we took to get here?"

"Correct," the chairwoman nodded. "And since _some_ of us are quite sharp for children your age"—she stole a quick look and a quicker smile at Masumi—"the fabric has been treated with nitrous oxide and a ketamine derivative. A mild but fast-acting sedative," she elaborated—and the LID's puzzled looks turned to shock in the time it took to blink. "This keeps the more intelligent crowds from memorizing the turns and straights of the route, and the speed of the car along each of them. It also prevents any _extant elements_ from trying to peek in along the way."

Masumi knew she was talking about Gwendolyn Grimm's psychic powers. "But … why all this trouble?" she still wanted to know. "Putting aside the fact that Akaba Leo is being called a _war criminal_ , that's surely no reason for anyone to _drug_ anyone who wants to see him—is it?"

Himika sighed, and stretched back in her seat. "Masumi … we are dealing with a legal situation that has never occurred on this _planet_ before," she said. "Leo made no small amount of enemies while leading Academia, and no one was especially happy about having to compromise on his fate. In any case, I had no hand in the decision; not even these cars are truly mine. They're on short-term loan from the _Hōmu-shō_ , and Nakajima and Tio are only driving them because they're currently acting as LDS' liaisons. The Minister probably thought that making these cars Maybachs instead of Toyotas, and including some _refreshment_ inside"—she scowled at the empty champagne glass as though it was a snake rearing to bite her wrist—"would sweeten the deal."

She sniffed. "His mistake. But I'm going off on a tangent. The Ministry of Justice has intercepted too many threats against Leo—and both myself and my children—to take any risks with his safety before justice can be served. Furthermore"—she patted the cloth on her lap—"even I am not exempt from these measures. I must be sedated, just as everyone else in this car and the one behind us," she said, nodding to Hotene, Rika, Fuyu, and Marco.

Masumi had seen precious stones in her father's shop that had fewer flaws than these security procedures. Before she could voice any of them, however, Nakajima signaled for their attention from the driver's seat.

"Two minutes to the first checkpoint," he grunted. "Start suiting up."

Himika arched her eyebrows at the LID. "There you have it," she said to both cars, as if that had been her final say. "For obvious reasons, I can't simply say where we're going or how long the trip will be. But I think there is one thing I can disclose before we get there."

She smiled thinly. "The view is _quite_ spectacular."

And without further ado, Himika leaned back in her seat and donned the hood over her head. Masumi thought she looked strangely silly wearing the thing. But in less than a minute, the headmistress had slumped very slightly—the only sign she had been drugged into unconsciousness.

The LID traded glances. Marco had already put his hood on in the next car, and was promptly out like a light. Masumi bit her lip. She had good reason to be suspicious of anything foreign inside her body; Himika had used an experimental serum on her and her friends some months ago to help accelerate their healing without her knowledge or her parents' consent. Fortunately, that was all it had done to her—but the uncomfortable confrontation was still front and center in Masumi's mind.

"One minute," said Nakajima. "Now or never."

Slowly, silently, Masumi nodded at them. Then—as if by a silent countdown—they donned their hoods as one.

The material was thick, but breathable; Masumi caught a slightly pungent odor. That was all she was able to think before the effects of the sedative took effect; the Fusion Duelist had just enough time to grasp Yaiba's hand in her own before her fingers went limp in his, and a blackness thicker than the hood she wore invaded her eyes …

* * *

Consciousness came slowly. Her brain felt like it was swimming through pudding. Shapeless blurs of shadows and color floated before her, so close to her, yet so far from her reach.

 _Where am I?_ She vaguely felt her mouth moving, vaguely heard noise that sounded like her own speech. But her tongue felt thick and dry behind her lips. Whatever words were coming out probably didn't sound like words at all.

But as the seconds ticked on, the world around Masumi slowly began to return to normal. As they became minutes, the Fusion Duelist began to remember where she was. The Mercedes was still humming softly beneath her, so they were still driving—though the road felt much less smooth than the highway out of Maiami City. Her fingers were intertwined with someone else's—that had to be Yaiba, still holding on even after God knew how long. She felt a smile flicker across her lips in longing. His fingers were stirring; perhaps he was coming to himself.

"Ugh … are we there yet?" he groaned. Masumi heard the rustle of a hood.

"Not yet." Nakajima's voice barked loudly enough that even under her own hood, Masumi felt the urge to squish her eyes shut to ward off the headache. "We still have another mile or so to go, and a short walk after that."

Masumi couldn't help it—she tried to move her legs. They felt more rubbery than on the day she'd first met Hotene, and that had involved spending a full, uninterrupted hour and a half in the little girl's favorite trampoline park. The thought of taking any length of walk in her condition made the Fusion user groan louder than Yaiba.

"Just flex them—gently," she heard Himika say from the seat opposite her. The LDS principal didn't sound the least bit groggy behind her hood. Masumi couldn't be sure if that meant she'd just been the first to come to, or if she'd just been through this experience enough times to get bored by it. "It'll help with the blood flow."

A hiss of whispered curses reached her ears just then. It sounded like Hokuto had just regained consciousness.

"Ow … " the Xyz ace was heard to mutter. "I think I conked out on one of my arms … damn pins and needles … thought I was being sealed into a card again … "

"It'll wear off," Himika said shortly. "I suggest you gather yourselves. We should be at the front drive of the place any second. Shake out the rust if you have to, but don't take off your hoods until Nakajima gives the word."

Hokuto grunted like he was stretching. Then, abruptly, there was a pause.

"Hokuto?"

" … Yes, Headmistress?"

"I realize you've been through one or two constraining situations before this one."

" … Yes?"

"Some of them may have involved being incapacitated for much longer than this pleasant summer's day drive."

"Um … "

"And that you might not have intended me any ill will for having to go through any of them."

" … "

"But if you touch me _anywhere_ like that again … you will _beg_ for me to personally seal you into another card."

Hokuto's "I didn't mean to" was so soft that if Masumi didn't know better, she might have mistaken his voice for Fuyu's. His immediate follow-up of "it was an accident, honest", however, had a little more weight to it—enough that Himika didn't press for a more sincere apology.

She and Yaiba were left to ponder what precisely happened—but before the Fusion Duelist could feel the smirk on her lips, she'd felt the car slow to a halt.

"We're here," Nakajima said from up front. "Hoods off and out of the car."

Masumi was only too happy to comply. She practically ripped off her hood—and regretted doing so an instant later; judging from the blinding glare that assaulted her eyes, Nakajima had lifted the filter that had smoked the windows to near opaqueness on the drive over. It took a few seconds for her to blink the stars out of her eyes.

When she'd finished, however, and stepped out of the car, she'd promptly gasped.

* * *

Masumi had been prepared to see a stark, forbidding prison complex—reserved for the most violent of criminals, and with legions of heavily armed guards to keep them in line. Barbed wire would line the concrete walls, towers would shine searchlights on the grounds looking for escapees, and a general air of grime would foul the air. But the sight before her was so unlike her expectations that the Fusion Duelist wondered if Nakajima had taken a wrong turn somewhere.

She was standing at the edge of a forest, gazing out at a grassy plain that could have swallowed the Maiami City Stadium like a tiny pill. Off to her left was a tranquil pond twice the size of her house; to her right, a pasture and a stable. Masumi heard at least three different horses nickering in their pens. It was the only noise she could make out in this secluded slice of the world—she didn't even hear birdsong over the sibilant hiss of wind that blew gently through the trees and kissed the back of her neck. A road of sandy brown gravel snaked into the hills in the distance, and it was at the edge of this that Nakajima and Tio had parked their cars.

Her eyes followed the sweeping road—and Masumi felt her jaw drop at the massive house that had been built in the middle of this clearing. It stood three stories tall—built of smooth sandstone and topped with a roof that gleamed as blue as the most flawless of sapphires in this sunny day. She had no idea how many bedrooms were inside, but she suspected this house had more of them than her house had _any_ type of room, including the closets— _and I wouldn't be shocked if whatever they call_ closets _here is bigger than my own bedroom_ , she thought jealously.

She saw a second building off to the right what she assumed was the main household and guest quarters—squatter, but wider and longer, and with bigger windows to boot. Probably a ballroom or an indoor pool, she guessed, biting back another twinge of envy. Each of the two buildings—connected at the corners by some grand hallway—was smaller than the middle school where Sawatari attended regular classes with Yūya and Yuzu. But they weren't a _lot_ smaller; indeed, Masumi suspected that combined, both buildings took up about as much space as the entire campus—if not more.

Himika had been right earlier, the Fusion Duelist grudgingly admitted—this place did have a very spectacular view.

With great effort, she tore her eyes away from the sight to look at Yaiba and Hokuto, then Hotene, Rika, and Fuyu. It was hard for Masumi to tell which of the five kids looked more thunderstruck. None of them dared to even speak.

" _Château Pique-Diamant_ ," Himika said, walking up to them and introducing the mansion with a wave of her hand. "This was meant to be Reiji's summer retreat when it was first built. Being a chief executive is tiring, and more so when you're barely a legal adult. The idea was that he could come here to relax and refresh himself after too many days at the office. Then Academia invaded, and the Lancers took precedence. Eventually I convinced myself that Reiji would never set foot in this place—but I still paid for the upkeep on the off chance it would see use again. And so it has … if not how I would have hoped."

Masumi was still swaying where she stood. _Reiji_ owned _this place?!_ she thought. But it seemed so obvious in hindsight: what better way to hide a notorious criminal from the world than on his son's own private property?

"Are we going in there?!" Hotene's voice was a scarce whisper that did not suit her.

Rika was almost drooling with glee beside her. "Best—house—ever … "

"That's not a house … " muttered Fuyu. "That's what my parents' house wants to be when it grows up … "

Something twitched in Himika's jaw. "Not my first choice of architecture, I grant you—it's too Georgian for my tastes. I prefer something a little more in step with the century, and certainly not this detached from the world. But then," she muttered, "this isn't _my_ summer retreat." She gestured at them, indicating that they should follow.

They only made it five paces before Masumi's jaw dropped a second time. Two slender figures had _blurred_ —there was no other word for it—right in front of Himika, side by side with one another. The speed and lack of noise with which they moved reminded her uncannily of Yaiba's former practice partner—an exchange student from China who had been reared in a Shaolin temple, and trained to be as fast and strong as any one of those warrior-monks.

Then her brain caught up with her, and she recognized them near-instantly: she had seen them before at the Maiami Championship. One of them—the ponytailed ninja standing off to her right, his blue scarf wrapped around his mouth, then trailing over his shoulder protectors and down to his armored knees, had made it far enough to be recognized as a founding member of the Lancers. The red-scarfed teenager next to him looked like his twin brother.

Himika greeted them without an ounce of surprise. "Tsukikage—Hikage. You've been informed of our arrival?"

"Yes, Himika- _san_." The twin ninjas spoke and bowed in tandem. "Reiji- _sama_ arrived shortly before you did."

"Very good." Himika craned her neck back to her drivers. "Marco, Tio—stay with the cars. Keep the engines hot. Nakajima—with me."

But before she could take a single step forward, Tsukikage and Hikage had put hands to the _katanas_ strapped across their backs. "One moment, Himika- _san_ ," they spoke in unison.

Tsukikage stepped forward. "Per the terms of our contract," he said dutifully, "we are obliged to tell you and your entourage that your presence here will be monitored from this point forward. We must further remind you that any terms of your visit that apply to you must also apply to any guests you bring with you."

Hikage matched him in pose and tone. "All Duel Disks and improperly secured communications devices are to be deactivated at once," he added far too crisply—they had given this speech numerous times before, the Fusion user realized. "You will turn them over when you have reached the atrium, and will receive them upon your departure."

Masumi and Yaiba both raised an eyebrow. "We've already deactivated them," the former supplied helpfully. "The headmistress gave us the rundown of your procedures on the way over."

Both ninjas fixed her with the same flat stare. "During your visit," they said together, "you _will_ abide by protocol."

The Fusion user shivered. She privately thought they might as well have leveled the blades of their swords at her throat—it would have been less intimidating than the diamond-hard edge that had suddenly sharpened their voices.

"You will be escorted at all times," Hikage informed them. "You will not wander off alone. You will not interact with the staff unless given permission by a member of the household"—he gestured to Himika—"or the Fūma clan."

"Nakajima- _san_ , as you are a former member of the Self-Defense Forces," Tsukikage added, "Reiji- _sama_ has asked that you enforce these rules as only you can. Any person these children may encounter from this point onward is to be considered a guard, and not simply a servant of the household."

The aide nodded curtly—but not before Yaiba had let loose a loud scoff. "C'mon," he chuckled. "Are you seriously telling me that the maids have PM-9s or something stashed under their skirts?"

"Sumitomo NTK-62s."

The LID spun as one towards Nakajima. Himika's aide was smirking slightly, but said nothing further.

"Is he joking?" Hokuto had leaned towards Masumi in the silence that followed. "I can't tell if he's joking."

The Fusion Duelist could only shrug helplessly. She cared a lot more about gems than she did guns.

Himika, mercifully, seemed to decide then that the encounter was over, and swooped in before Masumi could think of an answer. "Thank you, gentlemen," she said to the ninja twins. "We'll take it from here."

"Very good," Hikage said to her. "Reiji- _sama_ is waiting at the main entrance."

"We will take you there," his brother added. "This way, please."

And without further ado, they turned on their heels and marched forward in lockstep with one another.

The LID watched Himika and Nakajima fall in with them. "Is it just me," Hotene piped up after a long moment, "or are those ninja just a couple of total wet blankets?"

"Girl, _right_?" huffed Rika. "This house is _once-in-a-lifetime_ fancy! We should at least get a grand tour out of it!"

"I'd get so lost in this place," Fuyu muttered, finally stepping forward to follow the two adults; the rest of the LID walked after him. "I'd never figure out what room was where. I don't know how people this rich can live like that."

Yaiba offered him a hand. "Hello, Pot," he said sarcastically, while Fuyu slipped his helmet over his head to protect his pale skin from the sun. "My name's Kettle. Did you forget that your family lives under a whole _planetarium_?!"

He cringed as Hokuto cuffed him on his spiky hair. "Did you forget that his family _works_ at that planetarium, too?" the Xyz ace smirked at him. "Completely different situation."

"I'm not certain anyone actually works or lives here," murmured Masumi as they approached the mansion. They were close enough now to see that the gem-blue gleam of the roof was due in part to the multitude of solar panels that lined it. "Himika said this was a summer retreat for Reiji. So he doesn't live here 24/7. The ground staff probably have the run of the place when he's not using it."

"Not precisely." Himika was close enough to have heard them. "My son didn't just pick this place out of a hat to hold my"—she chewed the word a little—" _husband_." She slowed her pace a little until she drew level with the LID.

"The magnitude of Akaba Leo's actions has caused a great amount of debate in legal circles around the world," she explained. "However, most of these circles have agreed that the life of his daughter Ray should never have come at the expense of billions more. So the arrest and indictment was inevitable; all that remains is the trial. Except … no one's really sure as to which Dimension Leo should be tried in for his crimes. Until _that_ question's been answered, the International Court of Justice has granted us special dispensation to keep him under house arrest."

"What—in there?!" Yaiba blurted out, pointing at the elaborate façade of the house. "If the inside's anything like the outside, I don't see why he'd ever want to leave. I'm not even sure how this could be a prison in the first place!"

"You mean, _besides_ the security protocols you have already heard twice over today?" the headmistress said coolly.

Yaiba did not reply. Masumi didn't think anyone wanted to. "Even the most gilded of cages is still a cage," Himika murmured, half to herself. Then, more loudly: "Did you happen to notice anything at the front drive?"

They shook their heads—but just as quickly, something occurred to Masumi. "Actually … it was kind of quiet," she answered. "Almost _too_ quiet, I'd even say."

"Precisely," said Himika. "Tsukikage and Hikage weren't the only ninja there to greet us. There were at least twice as many of them stationed in the trees lining the entrance to the Château. I would guess as many as eight."

The LID simmered with awed muttering. Masumi felt like one of the twins had pressed a _shuriken_ against her spine. All those people, barely twenty feet away from them—and even her keen eyes hadn't noticed a single one of them?

"Reiji's close relationship with the Fūma clan made it possible for a number of their membership to act as security," Himika told them. "Furthermore, the maids are rotated out on a weekly basis, and they are restricted to their own quarters—which are separate from the main household—and the sections in which they work. This keeps any one of them from gaining too much knowledge of the floor plans for the Château. Finally, the Minister of Justice was personally adamant that while we had free reign to confine Leo however we wished, there had to be one constant."

Hokuto tilted his head. "Which would be … "

"His ankle bracelet." Himika shimmied her front foot. "On top of restricting him to the grounds, it's been rigged to emit an EMP every other second. Range of ten meters. Any technology within this radius that isn't protected against that level of electromagnetic radiation"—she snapped her fingers—" _instantly_ becomes inoperable."

"Including Duel Disks?" Fuyu looked thoughtful.

Himika nodded. " _Especially_ Duel Disks," she muttered. "His Decks have been confiscated—oh, yes; he had more than one on his person—and all technology in this house is restricted to staff and immediate family only."

They were within sight of the colonnade entrance to the mansion. A Range Rover Sentinel had been parked next to the fountain in the center of the courtyard, its black paint glinting dully in the clear sky. Beyond this, Masumi could see the familiar red scarf and spiky silver hair of Akaba Reiji, leaning back in the shade against one of the columns next to the front door. He was bouncing a baby over one shoulder—and even though she knew that baby could only be his little sister Reira, the notion of seeing Reiji with any infant at all was still an unexpected sight for Masumi to associate with one of the most powerful teenagers in the whole world. Then again, she privately thought, the sight was far stranger knowing that the last time she'd seen Reira, she'd been about ten years older, could still pass as a boy—and spoke very little out of a mere habit in those days, as opposed to a complete lack of ability today.

"We live in a world where everything's a phone call away." It took her some time to realize Himika had said this, more quietly than ever. "But it's a wide gulf between that phone … and the man I thought I married."

She walked towards Reiji, embracing her son coolly, professionally. If they spoke to each other, Masumi couldn't hear any words. Then, mother took daughter in her arms, and cooed softly into her tiny ears.

The Fusion Duelist amended her train of thought: _this_ sight was a lot stranger than Reiji cuddling his adoptive sister.

Yaiba seemed to agree. "Just when you think you know some people," he remarked from the corner of his mouth. Then, smirking, and more softly still: "Do you think Reira could still beat Hotene in a Duel, even as a baby? Ouch!"

He yelped as the little girl kicked him square in the shin. "I heard that," she said with an indignant huff.

After going on a tear during the previous Maiami Championship, Hotene had been brought to a screeching halt after facing Reira in the Junior Division's round of eight. The lopsided loss was still a sore spot for the tiny Duelist to this day—Rika had confided to Masumi after one of the girls' trampoline sessions that Hotene wanted to hold a rematch the _moment_ Reira was old enough to hold a Duel Disk once again, and that she didn't care how many years it took for her to get there.

Reiji stepped forward to meet them then. "I'm grateful that you could all make it here today," he said to the LID. "I apologize if the drive over was … _discombobulating_ in any way. But, protocol is protocol."

"Eh, it could've been worse," Yaiba shrugged. "They could've brought us along in so many tanks."

"They very nearly did." If Reiji was joking, he didn't show it. It was hard to believe a sixteen-year-old possessed a poker face like that. "It would have better ensured your security than hoods and drugs, considering."

Masumi did not smile. Reiji's words had just reminded her of the gaping hole she'd noticed in his idea of _security_.

"My father is in his study," the scion of the Akaba clan informed them, turning on his heel and approaching the front door. "He has taken to spending most of his time there. And he has been wishing to speak to you for some time."

"I don't think the Ministry of Justice would take too kindly to _kids_ asking to visit a war criminal," Yaiba said wryly.

"Not you collectively," said Reiji. " _You_. I can only guess as to why … but my father has mentioned you _by name_."

The Fusion Duelist repressed the urge to gulp as Reiji ushered them all into the house in single file. She could not fathom why the man who'd once headed LDS' sworn enemy would be interested in any of the LID.

And her thoughts had only grown more confusing; Reiji, after all, had pointed—quite unmistakably—directly at her.

* * *

This revelation occupied Masumi's brain for some time. She did not immediately take in the luxuriant interior of the foyer, with its diamond grid of black-and-white marble flooring—freshly polished to a mirror shine, no doubt in preparation for their arrival—or the great staircase opposite that stretched from the second-floor landing like the tongue of some yawning behemoth. Nor did she instantly see the four maids arranged two by two on either side of the front door, bowing in front of them in unison.

" _Yōkoso, goshujin-sama!_ " they chorused.

Masumi barely resisted the urge to cringe—it was like she'd stepped into some stereotypical harem _anime_. It didn't help that the maids hardly looked Japanese at all—but instead, various degrees of European—and yet they spoke the language with a Japanese accent that did not sound caricatured in the slightest. Nor did it escape her notice that the oldest of the maids had a non-zero chance of being too young to qualify for the Youth division. This was telling for Masumi: either they had been taught the language exhaustively, and used it when greeting the family and guests—

She caught Reiji's eye, and wished she hadn't. _Or_ , she hastily amended, that they were just going the extra mile in being deliberately cheeky to see if he would crack. _Good luck_ , she thought, concealing a smirk.

"Well, now I've seen everything," snickered Yaiba as he stepped inside. "Akaba Reiji, running a clandestine maid café inside the world's most luxurious prison? I guess you really are just another teenage boy after all, aren't y—?"

He stuttered to a halt, and froze in his tracks with the look of someone who'd just had an unpleasant realization. "He … Reiji's staring right at me, isn't he?" the Synchro ace said in a very small voice, not daring to turn around.

Masumi nodded. "Mm-hm."

Yaiba gulped. "His glasses all scary and shiny?"

The Fusion Duelist chanced a split-second glance. "Oh, yeah."

" … _Poo_." Fortunately, her boyfriend hadn't forgotten about Reira still being in earshot. "One of these days," he grumbled, "I'll learn how he does that—how people always know when he's staring at them … "

"He's Reiji." Masumi watched one of the maids take Reira, making zooming noises with her mouth as she flew the giggling baby through the air like a toy airplane. "Just assume all this weirdness is another day in the life for him."

"I'd hate to see what he calls weird," Hokuto muttered. "At least I know one thing is true about all this."

"What's that?"

Hokuto stole a long, long look at the maids. "There is no way they'd carry any kind of gun under _those_ dresses."

Masumi followed his gaze—and promptly huffed. "Ugh—you're just as bad as Yaiba," she said, flushing scarlet through her indignation. "Besides, maybe they don't use guns—they wouldn't shoot up a house like this after spending all day cleaning it! One prisoner isn't worth all those bullets—they'd use something nonlethal, like stun batons!"

"And where would they carry _those_?"

She thought about it—and promptly huffed again. "Thanks," she said, staring Yaiba down with what she fervently hoped was the same basilisk stare that Reiji had given him earlier. "That's … in my brain now. Thanks a _lot_."

The Synchro Duelist smirked. " _I_ didn't say anything."

Masumi waited until Himika had turned fully towards Reiji. Then, she carefully folded her hands behind her back—and made a gesture with each one that she hoped would show Yaiba _exactly_ how little she cared.

* * *

Thankfully, they got to business remarkably quickly, and any trace of harem anime fantasy anyone here might have harbored went _poof_ soon after. One of the maids took the LID's Duel Disks into an adjoining closet; Masumi found herself staring at hers with reluctant longing before the door clicked shut. Another maid scurried upstairs with Reira in tow, still cooing happily in baby talk at the infant. The rest of them retreated into the vast reaches of the mansion, back to whatever post they served—leaving Reiji, Nakajima, and Himika alone with the ninja twins and the LID.

"Resume your posts at the entrance," Reiji said to Tsukikage and Hikage. "We can escort them to Leo from here."

The brothers nodded once—and _blurred_ away without a word. Now there were only nine—six kids, a mother and son, and the burly aide who protected them. At a gesture, Reiji bade them follow him, and they moved past the staircase and into an adjoining hallway, bright with sunlight that streamed in through the large windows either side.

Even with all the experienced Duelists next to her, Masumi still felt like the odds weren't in their favor. " … We're really doing this," she muttered, feeling smaller and smaller against the gigantic mirrors and murals that lined the walls. "We're talking to a war criminal. No pressure. At all."

"Some people would disagree on what my father truly is," Reiji said. He did not sound harsh or patronizing in any way, but the Fusion Duelist still felt like she'd been bitten by the tone of his words. "Many in the Fusion Dimension would have called him a martyr. Many more in the Xyz Dimension, and ours as well, would just as easily condemn him as a war criminal, as you say—or even a monster. But as with all things, Kōtsu Masumi, the truth is far more complicated than what we first see for ourselves—and I ask that you bear this in mind when you see Leo yourself."

"What do you think of him, then?" Hokuto wanted to know. "Does blood flow thicker than water for Akaba Reiji?"

LeoCorp's chief executive did not answer for some time. That caught Masumi off guard, and even Hokuto looked amazed that he'd asked a question for which Reiji had no ready answer.

"Hey, look," he said hastily, "look—if it's too personal a question, you know you don't have to answer it—"

"No—it's quite all right." But Masumi heard the spasm in Reiji's voice. "I will not deny that everything my father has done at Academia has … complicated my relationship with him. And I will make no effort to conceal that what he has done will not be smoothed over so easily. Perhaps it may never be so. However … " He took a deep breath. "However, I believe he should only be called as much of a criminal as this house should be called his prison."

The Fusion Duelist found this answer terribly cryptic, even for him. Masumi had been told of why Leo had done what he did, of course; Z-ARC's revival had not been the climax of his plan to unite the dimensions and return his daughter Ray to life—but, to the contrary, had been the _flaw_ in it; the X-factor where everything he'd worked for had gone so badly astray. Even so … She had seen too many pictures of Heartland City, heard too many tales of how it had been razed to the ground, and how its people had been sealed by the billions all for the sole purpose of drawing out one teenage girl, to muster much sympathy for Akaba Leo. And that wasn't even getting into the sorts of people with which he'd associated—the psychotic freaks of mind and body the LID had had to face in the past, who'd served him and carried out his orders. Their smirks and sneers still haunted Masumi even now.

She stole a look at Hokuto and Yaiba behind her; both boys were still counting with their fingers, repeating Reiji's words under their breath and trying to figure out if they added up to any sort of repudiation.

Masumi decided to supply her own interpretation. "You want this trial to be over and done with. Don't you, Reiji?"

A nod. "I do not wish to be known as Leo's jailer—or his shield." They turned a corner into another hallway. "I merely want to make sure that he faces justice in accordance with the law—before that," he added, "of _public opinion_."

He motioned them to stop, and gestured to the single door that connected the hallway to the room beyond. "This is Leo's private study," he said. "Do you have anything to say before I open this door—any questions or concerns? The moment we step beyond this point, I cannot guarantee that I will be in control of whatever happens inside."

Hokuto put a hand up immediately. "What do you mean by that? Do you think he'll try to attack us?"

To his surprise, Reiji chuckled. "No, no. No, I think you will find he is not that kind of prisoner. But," and his face hardened, "that does not mean he thinks the same as you and me. We have already seen how many families he is prepared to affect for the sake of his own. You must never forget that, no matter what you see in him."

"You say that like we won't like what he tells us … " Rika said uneasily. Hotene nodded sagely behind her.

"If my mother was in any way worried about whether you were ready to do this," replied Reiji, "we would not be having this conversation. She and I have much more confidence in you than you might give us credit for."

"Talking about confidence." Masumi stepped forward; she could not put it off any longer. "How confident are you in Leo being safe in this place? Because I did some thinking on the drive over—at least, when I wasn't wearing that blasted hood," she added, stealing a look at Himika, "and I think all this security of yours has a real big weak spot."

Mother and son traded glances. "Enlighten us," said the headmistress.

"All these ninjas you've got patrolling the grounds—all these maids who, for all we know, have more guns and weapons inside their dresses than the average American? They're all meant to handle physical threats—say, if someone decides to sneak onto the grounds and confront Leo himself. They won't get very far—and I get that. But," Masumi paused for breath, "what if anyone on this property gets threatened by a force that _isn't_ physical?"

Reiji frowned. "You think Gwendolyn Grimm would try to attack this mansion and kidnap my father?"

"She wouldn't even need to be here—not physically," said Masumi. "I know what her psychic powers can do all too well. And I really hope you're about to tell me why you think I'm wrong."

Reiji smiled. "For one thing, fighting off a psychic attack takes a lot of willpower—something you of all Duelists should understand," he said, and Masumi couldn't resist a bashful blush. "I did not choose Leo's security lightly—every ninja, every maid, and every other servant in this household was specifically selected because they have that same willpower—that same ability to exert total control over their own mental faculties while under duress. They may not have the look in their eyes that any of you do—but then, looks aren't everything.

"Secondly," he went on, "you are operating under the assumption that my father does not wish to be here at all."

Masumi frowned. _What?_

"Yes … " Reiji cast a look at the door behind him. "If Gwendolyn Grimm were to try and abduct Leo, I can assure you he will not go quietly. He has made it clear to me that he wants to enjoy the life he has today for as long as he is able. Moreover," he added, "he has told me that there is almost no one in this dimension who knows Grimm better than he does. Because of that, Leo is particularly—and perhaps even _uniquely_ —prepared to confront her. I would almost go so far as to call him our _secret weapon_ against her."

Yaiba looked skeptical. "You sound awful sure of yourself about this. I mean—let's not forget that we're the LID because you and your mom didn't even see Grimm working right under your noses until Masumi here got curious."

"We did not know then what we know now," Reiji said coolly. He'd raised his eyebrow less than a millimeter. That was enough to snuff out any further argument from Yaiba.

"You said 'almost' just now … " Fuyu was deep in thought. "What do you mean, there's almost no one in this dimension who knows that woman better than your dad?"

"Exactly what you think he means," Himika said from behind him. "Of all the people that Gwendolyn Grimm has fought in her career as a Psychic Duelist, only seven of them have been confirmed to not only resist her power, but also turn it against her. One of those people is Akaba Leo."

"I think I can guess who the other five are," said Yaiba, and Masumi felt a jolt as she realized the same thing. "But who's number seven?"

Reiji turned from her, and approached the door to the study. "We will find out soon enough," he said.

And before the name _Markus Streiter_ had finished echoing through Masumi's brain in astonishment, Reiji had knocked once, twice, thrice on the heavy oak.

"It's unlocked!" called the voice of a middle-aged male from beyond, and the Fusion Duelist stiffened.

_I'm not ready for this … I'm about to talk with the man who changed my life forever I can't do this he ruined so many people's lives and I'm supposed to treat him like he's not my enemy I have no idea how I can—_

But there was nothing more she could say or do: Reiji had already swung the door open wide—and Masumi's eyes went just as wide at the sight that lay beyond.


	10. IX

IX

The staircase seemed to stretch on forever. Every step—worn smooth from years of erosion and the foot traffic of thousands of people—had been deliberately crafted to be much taller than the average stair, to force its climbers to put more effort into stepping over each one. Legend had it that there were precisely eight hundred and seventeen such steps in the entire length: two of the luckiest numbers in Japan, combined to bring anyone who traveled them great prosperity—if they could make the climb. The path went straight up the mountain, never once going down.

This, too, was deliberate—those who climbed this staircase had no intention of going down until they were ready to do so. But, invariably, there were some who did. Some could go no further, having worn themselves out too much to take the rigors of their destination, and were sent home in disgrace. Others would stick it out for as long as their bodies would let them—and if they could take it, they would descend those steps not as failures, but as warriors.

The two girls standing at the foot of the staircase had heard many things about where it led—and it was perhaps because of this that they betrayed some small amount of nerves as their eyes roved up each step.

One of them—slender, blue-haired and -eyed, and tall for a girl of thirteen—was moving her free left hand in many directions. Most people would have thought this to be a product of her nervousness. The girl whose hand she was firmly clutching, however, was not most people.

"Of course I'm sure about this," she told her without tearing her strangely colored eyes away from their destination. Save for these and her vivid red locks, she was physically identical to her companion in every respect. "They were on our list even after we made our escape. They won't have any choice but to listen to us."

The hand moved again. " … Well, that's their problem," said the redhead. "Friendly faces won't cut it this time—we tried that with You Show, and look what happened to them because of us! We need force this time—we need a show of strength behind us. Otherwise, how are people going to take us seriously?"

Her twin's fingers traced out three distinct letters.

She sighed. "You know we can't. They've got enough problems on their plate after what happened to the city! If they find out we were the reason that the Ædonai attacked them in the first place, they'll have us arrested for sure! Maybe even worse!"

" … "

"Besides, we've gone too far to turn back now. We're already here—we may as well see this through."

" … "

"All right, all right. After. But not one second _before_. There's no telling how long this could take us."

And, joining hands, the two of them took the first step upwards towards their end destination.

 _Eight hundred and sixteen to go_ , went the thought that flickered between one brain and the other …

* * *

_Château Pique-Diamant_

When she looked back on it, Masumi wasn't sure why she'd been so shocked. She'd been drugged and blinded on the way to one of the most secure jails in Japan—if not the whole world—only to find out that this so-called "jail" was actually the plushest, fanciest mansion she was likely to ever tour for the rest of her life. Yaiba had scoffed, but Himika had stressed that this palace of a house was more of a prison than a pleasure center.

And yet the scene before her looked so relaxed—so devoid of stress—that she couldn't help but think Himika was making a big mistake.

The study they'd entered was more of a miniature library—Masumi only used the descriptor because she privately thought this house might indeed have its own actual library. The two walls that flanked the door, and the enormous window beyond, were devoted entirely to shelves upon shelves of books whose titles Masumi could not immediately make out. A single ladder straddled each row, allowing for easy access to whatever tome their browser wished, and a pair of overstuffed armchairs sat either side of a low-slung oak table perched upon an elaborately woven rug.

And there, behind the desk at the other end of the room, sat the most infamous man on Earth.

Akaba Leo looked nothing like Masumi had expected. Of course she had seen pictures of the man when he had commanded Academia: the piercing, sky-blue gaze that glinted like silver, peering out over the Dimensions he'd sought to unite; the tall, stocky stature of a man who could hold his own through brains and brawn alike. Neither was in evidence here—the silver-blue eyes had lost much of their polish, and there were definite bags under his eyes that suggested a loss of sleep over the past week or so. Masumi, however, could not tell if any of this was from the experience of Leo's prison, the memories of his failure … or if perhaps he'd just mellowed out from what he'd been before. The spade-collared purple coat and cape that had signified his former station were nowhere to be seen, nor was the apparatus he wore over his bald head; he'd swapped those out with a flannel shirt that matched his eyes perfectly, and a pair of simple shorts and shoes that made him look as though he'd just come from a few rounds of tennis or squash.

Masumi wouldn't have been shocked if the mansion that held him "captive" had facilities for this exact purpose, too.

The desk where Leo had been sitting was filled with papers, neatly stacked into sections either side of him. Some were taller than others—and the identical sheet on which he was presently scrawling told Masumi that he'd written them all. No doubt he was working on some memoir or other: some collection of thoughts about an insider's account of life at Academia—and after it—or some treatise on the inner workings of his pet Arc Project, and what it would have accomplished.

 _The Rise and Fall of Akaba Leo_. The Fusion Duelist suppressed the urge to sneer.

It was just as well that she did; Nakajima and Reiji had motioned them inside, and then shut the door behind them, leaving the LID and Himika alone in the study with the man they'd come to see. The door had scarcely clicked shut when Leo put aside his pen and stood up from his seat.

"At last," he said with a pleasant smile, framed perfectly by the massive sunlit window behind him. There was no hello, no how-are-you: he'd known they were coming, Masumi thought. And the way his eyes had lingered for the tiniest perceptible moment on her was enough for her to think that Reiji had been right about what he'd said earlier.

"I'm sorry if I didn't come out to greet you personally," Leo apologized. "I've taken to writing of late, and—as you can imagine—it's less convenient without any sort of computer to help catch your errors or assist in your research."

He glanced downward, as if dogged by an old wound. So did Masumi, before she'd been aware of it; she saw then the gunmetal-gray circle that wrapped around Leo's left ankle. A bright green strip of light flashed on and off every other second: the electromagnetic pulse, she knew, that kept him from using any technology while he was here.

"But about three chapters in," Leo continued, patting the largest stack of papers on his desk, "I began to realize that I enjoyed the tedium of the old ways. Not having my old setup has forced me to adjust my view of the world—to find other ways of keeping my mind sharp than having someone or something else do all my work for me."

He crossed to Himika. "Like the faces of old friends … and of family," he smiled fondly, embracing his wife.

She did not return the gesture. "You know why we're here, Leo," she said coldly.

Masumi thought she saw something deflate in the man. But if anything in Himika's demeanor had wounded him, he was too practiced to show it.

He nodded slowly. "Yes … the attacks on the four dimensions. Heartland Tower, the City Duel Palace, You Show Duel School … and all of Maiami City." He sighed. "Thousands of people. Thousands of cards."

Leo did not meet their gaze. Whether he was being melodramatic or not, the numbers of nameless casualties still felt like a punch to Masumi's insides. She could tell that he had not wanted this any more than they did.

"You're not here because you want to know everything I know about the people behind these attacks," Leo told them. "You're here because everything I know about them—these Ædonai—is in danger of being lost forever."

 _Lost?_ Masumi frowned. It was plain to see the LID shared her feelings.

"People think they're a doomsday cult of some kind," Yaiba spoke up. "A bunch of people from Academia joined together—"

He got no further: Leo was chuckling as though he'd just been told a joke. But there was no humor in his laugh, no smile in his eyes.

"No, Tōdō Yaiba," he said gently. But the way he was looking at Himika suggested that it wasn't just him that he was correcting. "They are not a cult, and certainly not an advocate of doomsday. Cults are never visible—not until the time is right for them to appear. Until then, they work in the shadows—behind the scenes, always manipulating, never attacking. No one must ever know they exist. It ruins the plan if someone rats them out."

"And what sort of plan would that be?"

Leo eyed Hokuto with an inkling of realization. "You're the one she sealed," he said matter-of-factly. The Xyz ace stared back at him, unwilling to dignify this with any response.

"The _plan_ depends on who you ask," said Leo. "No doubt my son has told you the origins of their name—how it means 'lords'. Not _one_ lord. The plural. Everyone in the Ædonai, from the highest officer to the lowliest of Duelists, considers themselves one of these lords. Their reasons for joining it are their own. And it's for that reason that I will never label them as some run-of-the-mill doomsday cult. For all intents and purposes, they are a military junta. What power they possess was taken by force—through subterfuge, deceit, and even bloodshed."

" _Junta_." Fuyu mulled the word over in his lips. "I read about juntas in history class. They're groups that can take over entire nations by force. Sometimes they're political—but in most cases they're all military, aren't they?"

"Exactly." Leo nodded. "Whatever their origin, it implies they didn't just come out of nowhere. They've been in plain sight—unlike many sort of cults. I'm given to understand that these Ædonai hold a large amount of influence in the Kingdom of Misgarth, and other dominant world powers in the Fusion Dimension. Certainly enough of it that they were able to pull off that _coup d'état_ of theirs at the same time as all the attacks they organized across all four Dimensions. They seized the capital, sealed almost all of its bureaucracy _and_ its aristocracy, and finished it off by deposing the crown prince, Ojin. Not a single shot was fired."

"Who told you all this?" Himika demanded.

"Information comes my way," Leo said simply. "I may not have the leverage online or on paper anymore, but I still do have friends who write me letters of goodwill from time to time."

He returned to his desk, and began to pore over one of the smaller stacks of papers that perched upon it. "One of the teachers at the Fusion Branch of You Show," he explained, "was concerned about what he termed 'a great deal of unrest' in the Fusion Dimension. I disregarded it at the time because I figured the power transfer was the end of it—nature abhorring a vacuum, and all that. But"—and he stood up—"these attacks have made it clear to me that the Ædonai is much more coordinated than Academia—and much too centralized to be a mere cult. From there, my opinion of them became quite clear. They are a military junta," he said again, "and their actions constitute nothing more than a coup against every single Dimension. And I want to make it clear I do not support them in any way."

Why that didn't lessen the knot in Masumi's throat, the Fusion user wasn't sure. "Anyway, that's all I can tell you about the group as a whole—it's from after my time," Leo told them. "But most of the people who joined up with them were not. They make a point to recruit people who have something to fight for."

"You can start with Gwendolyn Grimm."

Leo's silvery eyes flicked straight towards Masumi. Only then did she realize those words had come from her lips.

"I was hoping to hear you say that." He was smiling. And though it seemed cordial enough, the broadness of that smile felt more than a little creepy to her. "I have to say that I almost envy you, Kōtsu Masumi—you and all of your friends, for being able to know such a talented student of mine almost as … _intimately_ … as I have."

"A little too much," Yaiba grumbled under his breath.

Leo ignored him. "She was one of the first to join the Ædonai. I wouldn't be shocked if she _was_ the first," he added, and Masumi's mouth fell open in shock. "Don't act so surprised; I knew someone like her wouldn't give up the fight so easily."

A glimmer of pride flickered over his face. "I made her that way, after all."

Rika frowned. "What do you mean?"

Leo turned to face her. "Ah … the new girl," he said. "Of course you wouldn't know. You'll have to bear with me; I was expecting someone older to ask that question. I don't quite know how to boil it down for kids your age."

He sat down in one of the armchairs. "Once in a blue moon," he began, folding his hands in his lap, "people with psychic powers are born. More rarely still, those people gain the knowledge to use their psychic powers in _Duel Monsters_. But the key factor is that psychics are only born. Psychic _Duelists_ are made. Trained. They have the sword, but until they learn how to use it, it weighs them down at best—or actively hurts them at worst.

"Now, Wendy wasn't much older than you when I first met her, Emina Rika," he said. "It was around that time that she first discovered her powers of oneirokinesis—the same ones she used to infiltrate and manipulate your friends' dreams all those months ago. The years in between the genesis of her abilities and the time she learned to harness them were … _not pleasant_. That is all I wish to say on this beautiful summer's day in front of polite company. In any case, these powers were how she first learned—albeit inadvertently—of both my Arc Project _and_ Revival Zero: my intentions to fuse the Dimensions into a united utopia, and my attempt to recover my biological daughter Ray.

"And she was reluctant at first to join me—I will not deny that," Leo told them. "The Fusion Dimension was her home, and the notion of having it drastically altered past recognition probably disturbed her more at that time than the prospect of having to make a choice between one little girl and billions of people. But eventually, Wendy not only acquiesced, but she offered a way to make my plan even better."

Fuyu shuffled uneasily where he stood. "I don't like where this is going … "

"Her logic was this," Leo continued. "Instead of sealing people into cards, why not allow them to be something more _useful_ than simple fuel for a dimension-fusing machine? She would share her dreams with the masses, and they would rally under our banner to make those dreams a reality by any means necessary. Even to fight for them. Sound familiar?"

It did: Masumi was biting her lip, but she dared not speak up yet.

"Thus it was," Leo went on, "that Gwendolyn Grimm became—and it pains me that I can find no better phrase—my _guinea pig_. With the technology I had at my disposal, I was able to enhance her—to mold her into a soldier of such psychic might and potential that the Fusion Dimension had to retool their entire Duelist classification system to account for warriors like herself. She skyrocketed through the ranks of Academia, and became the school's Head of Indoctrination at the tender age of sixteen. With her powers having been refined by my tutelage, she could enter the dreams of anyone she wished and Duel them in her sleep, and everyone she defeated would become one more Fusion Duelist in an army filled with them. An army that I don't doubt would have included all of you."

"They had help." Hokuto crossed his arms.

"So I have heard," Leo said, with another long glance at Masumi. "Your friends were lucky. A significant fraction of the Obelisk Force was created because of Wendy's powers—she looked into their deepest fantasies of power and dominion, and gave them the strength to achieve them through their service to Academia. She didn't lead them—nor did she want to. In her heart, it was enough to simply teach them her perception of the superiority of Fusion Summoning: that it was their one chance, their sole hope of salvation, and their key to reclaiming the Original Dimension I so assiduously wished to reforge."

"And so Markus Streiter took over their command in her place," said Yaiba.

Leo's head jerked upwards—the first violent movement he'd displayed in their conversation. Slowly, he got to his feet. "How … do you know about _him_?" he murmured.

"We have reason to believe that Markus was spotted in Maiami City recently," Himika answered him, her tone frightfully even. "Is he also one of the Ædonai?"

Leo ran a hand over the veins in his scalp. "It has to be assumed," he sighed. "Wendy and Markus were close in those days—almost as much as I was with her. I would even say Markus and I are in a unique position of being part of a very few people to whom she might willingly call herself _inferior_."

He seemed faintly agitated by this revelation—enough so that he ignored the six jaws of the LID dropping in unison. "You're joking," Hotene blurted out flatly. "You're seriously thinking this Markus guy's an even better Duelist than that … that _evil_ … " She could not find the words.

"I don't just think he is," Leo corrected her. "I _know_ it. He was the supreme commander of the Obelisk Force. And just as I was the man who trained Wendy to be a proper psychic, and Yūri—the Fusion Dimension's counterpart of Sakaki Yūya—trained her to be a proper Duelist, Markus was the man who trained her to be a proper soldier."

Masumi remembered Yūri only from the one picture she'd seen of him, months ago, and from what Yūya himself had said of the boy in the past. But the gaze in those eyes did not belong to a boy with the childlike innocence Yūya often showed to the world. The thought of him teaching someone more than twice his age how to Duel—and of how frightening that someone's abilities had been because of it—sent a frisson of icy fingers down her spine.

"All three of us have gone on record as believing that Wendy Grimm would carry our battle flag for a very long time, and a very great distance," said Leo. "Our investment paid off; her devotion to our cause was absolute, and she was fiercely protective of Academia and its personnel. None more so," he added, "than of the three of us."

The look on his face betrayed genuine pride. Whether he regretted the extent of his involvement or not in making the monster called Dr. Grimm, her existence must have been one of the masterstrokes of his time at Academia, Masumi thought. But she had also seen his brow furrow in concentration; something they had said earlier was still on his mind. She wondered if it was the same thought she herself had been entertaining for the past few minutes, and so she decided to take a risk by putting a voice to her concerns.

"Headmistress Himika said earlier today that she thought Markus might be issuing orders to Dr. Grimm," she spoke up. "But she also mentioned the possibility that Markus himself might be getting orders of his own from someone else. If he was the leader of the Ædonai, then he wouldn't be at the forefront of one of their terrorist attacks right from the beginning, would he?"

Leo's face darkened. Suddenly he felt almost as threatening as he had on the very day Masumi had first heard he was the leader of Academia. It seemed her hunch had been right.

"There are two different answers to your question," he said, returning to his desk and rummaging inside a drawer for something. "Neither of them is much simpler than the other for me to accept at face value. But everything I have seen and heard of recent events tells me that there may be no other alternative.

"To answer the latter half of your question first, Masumi," he continued, finally pulling out a blank sheet of paper and sketching on its surface with a pen, "Markus Streiter is the kind of person who would feel most comfortable leading his troops into battle from the front lines than behind a desk. In all the time I have known him, his love for Dueling and his love for battle are mutually inclusive. He literally cannot have one without the other. I've seen him turn down promotions to a higher office simply because accepting them would mean leaving the battlefield, in his mind, and therefore that the strategies and technologies he helped to create would run the risk of failing without him around to oversee them. If he didn't love being in the thick of a fight so much, I think the Kingdom of Misgarth would have made a general out of him. And that is one of only two reasons why I not only believe Markus is not the leader of the Ædonai—but that I also believe I know the man who _is_. Or at least, I did … a very long time ago."

Silence. Hokuto ventured to ask the question they were all thinking. " … What's the second one?"

Leo did not speak for at least another minute. He was too busy with his drawing. But eventually, the strokes of his pen became fewer and further between, and presently he answered the Xyz ace's question.

"There are maybe two people in all four Dimensions," he said heavily, "that I can imagine having not only the clout to control both Gwendolyn Grimm _and_ Markus Streiter—but also the resources to field them, with an army to boot. One, obviously, was me." He thumbed unnecessarily towards himself. "The other can only be … well, I've never actually heard his proper name before. It may be that he never had one, or that he just went and forgot it. He was very old, you know. Old enough, in fact, that either answer is just as likely."

Himika sniffed impatiently. "Just tell us, Leo."

Leo took a breath. "Everyone I knew in the Fusion Dimension venerated him as a master of subterfuge—a _perfection of shadow_. Or, as I later took to calling him behind his back, a _shadow of perfection_ ," he added, smiling slightly at his play on words. "In both cases, the nicknames stuck—and before long, every single person who knew him started calling him _Kagemaru_."

He revealed the sheet of paper to them at last. Masumi caught a glimpse of an old man with long, wispy hair and a beard to match. But the narrowed eyes in the face they framed could have belonged to a man of any age: a man who'd had dreams, long ago, and wanted them all realized before he died, no matter what had to be sacrificed.

The LID traded glances. " … Should we know who that is?" Yaiba said slowly.

"You would be all the wiser for it," Leo told him. "Kagemaru was the man who founded Academia."

Everyone present save for Himika erupted in shock and surprise. Masumi felt as though she'd been electrocuted.

Leo ignored them all. "When I took control of the school all those years ago, and reorganized it to suit my needs," he said, "my plan didn't go off without a hitch; I first had to deal with some … dissident elements. Not everyone was on board with schools being converted into armies, it turned out—and my predecessor, Kagemaru, possessed the loudest voice of them. Because he was not only the founder of our school, but the chairman of the executive committee who governed it, that meant his mere _existence_ carried a great deal of influence and power—both of which were considerable enough to have earned him his moniker … and each of which could have lost me my daughter before I'd even attempted to bring her back," he said sadly. "Eventually, I was left with only one option."

"And what was that?" Rika asked.

Leo folded the sketch, and returned it to its drawer. "It pained me to do it," he said, his tone more somber than ever, "but I knew Kagemaru had to go before he caused a schism within the school's board of directors, and ruined my own plans right out of the gate. So I started laying the seeds of dissent. Once enough people on the executive committee had been swayed, I confronted him at our next meeting. I denounced him as a traitor to the cause. I offered him one chance to step down in high standing. He refused … and so I Dueled him in full view of the student body. I won. He got the message and retired. Those in the board who supported him were given one chance to recant—and _only_ one—or they would be sealed into a card." He smiled grimly. "None of them did."

A long sigh blew from his mouth. "No one ever heard from Kagemaru again after that. Rumors of his resistance still lingered even after I dealt with the people who would otherwise have given it form and purpose, but they never materialized. In any case, he was old and in failing health even before his departure. Until you brought it up, I'd believed him dead. What better way for a _shadow_ to disappear, than in total silence?" he added with a laugh.

No one laughed back. Masumi was still reeling from the ruthless way in which Leo had seized control of a school and turned it into the military powerhouse it had been in those days.

"You don't sound too certain that this Kagemaru person _did_ disappear," Hokuto mused out loud.

"It would make me feel much better if I was," Leo admitted. "But I've been out of the loop too long to give you the sort of honest answer I wish I could give myself. All I can say that Kagemaru is the most likely person I know to be in charge of the Ædonai. If it somehow isn't him—if it turns out to be someone else—then the only thing I can say with certainty was that this someone was never with me at Academia—as a teacher, _or_ as a student. My connections in the Fusion Dimension would have told me otherwise."

"I … actually don't think it's Kagemaru," Fuyu murmured. "If he was against the idea of turning the kids of his school into a standing army, like you said, it wouldn't make sense for him to join up with one himself, would it?"

"You forget that both Academia and the Ædonai operated with the financial backing of the Kingdom of Misgarth," Leo told him. "The only difference between the two right now is that Academia was a middleman between the Kingdom and its Dueling soldiers. And right now, the Ædonai _are_ Misgarth—they don't wear the kid gloves of schoolchildren. They are trained to fight and to win at any cost—and even Kagemaru could see the appeal of that, I would wager."

Masumi processed this. It felt like Leo knew more than he was letting on about all this. "What if Kagemaru is with the Ædonai," she muttered, "but even he's getting his orders from someone else—like he's been forced to join up with them himself? What then?"

"Then I can't help you," said Leo, shrugging as simply as if he'd been asked to add two and two. "If that's the case, then it could be just about anyone in charge of that lot. The Ædonai don't exactly have steep requirements to join their ranks, from what I've been told. First of all, a preference for Fusion Summoning—the more advanced or exotic, the more likely they are to use it as a weapon. Second: a loyalty to their home Dimension that rivals the most fanatical of patriots. Third, and above all … they wish to create a second Academia, more powerful than the old one ever was, and therefore one with a better chance of letting them fulfill whatever goals they intend for the world."

"And how many of these goals involve them abducting Yūya and Yuzu?" Hokuto wanted to know.

Leo exhaled. "I wish I knew," he said. "If I didn't know better, they might be trying to resurrect Z-ARC. But"— he held up a hand to stave off the shocked murmurs from the LID—"fortunately for us, I do know better."

"Are you sure?" Masumi definitely wasn't. "Because I was there when Markus kidnapped them. He played it off as getting them to safety from the Ædonai's attack—but I think he did something to them both. He came to You Show under the pretense of interviewing them both for a position at LDS Broadway. The next I saw them was during the Duel—and both Yūya and Yuzu were acting strangely. Every time they brought out a Fusion Monster—"

"—they looked like they were on top of the world?" Leo finished, raising an eyebrow. "Yes, that does sound like Markus. More to the point, it sounds like one of those experimental teaching methods he proposed to me when he started work at Academia. It made use of radiation given off by Fusion Summoning energy to stimulate the pleasure centers of the human brain every time they brought out a Fusion Monster. It worked well enough during trial runs, but I eventually rejected it on account of it being too cost-inefficient—and later tests found that repeated exposure to it would produce a dependency-like effect on the subject's brain. Not a pretty sight," he muttered. "I should have expected that he was too fond of his pet project to simply have it dismantled."

"Dependency?" Masumi bit her lip, feeling a puzzle piece click inside her brain. "As in, this thing got boys and girls _addicted_ to Fusion Summoning? Like it was some kind of _drug?!_ That's—that's _disgusting!_ "

"I never said I hired Markus Streiter for being a compassionate soul," Leo said. "He told me he was a man who expected results, and a man who delivered them too. In that respect, he did not disappoint."

Masumi sighed, taking a deep breath to ward off the nausea of what she'd just heard. "Okay. So he must have brought some of that Fusion-drug-whatever technology with him. It must've been inside that briefcase he was always carrying around," she muttered. "If I'd known, I could've kicked it away from him, or stomped on it—"

Yaiba laid a soothing hand on her elbow. "What I want to know," he said far too evenly, "is what good this does Markus? Drugging kids and turning them into Dueling maniacs doesn't sound like anything an old geezer like him would do—that sounds more up Grimm's alley than anything else." He pulled a face as he said the name.

"Maybe he's trying to reclaim some of Academia's old strength," Hokuto piped up. "He's already gotten to Dennis. Sora was scared stiff he might be next. Is there anyone else he might be after? Someone else who might have been part of Academia at one time?"

"I can think of plenty of people," Leo nodded. "Almost every single one of them went to the Fusion Dimension's branch of You Show Duel School—and as you've already heard, that's been burned to the ground. Most of its student body and staff have already been captured—the Tyler sisters, Edo Phoenix, Tyranno Kenzan; to name a few … If any of them somehow managed to escape, I've yet to hear about it," he said sadly. "But I still hold out hope.

"As for Yūya and Yuzu … " He chewed his tongue for a while. "I don't know—I just don't know. If Markus was after literally anybody else, I'd understand his intentions right off the bat. But those two are intertwined too tightly with their counterparts for his technology to have the desired effect on them. And even if it did … I just don't see the point of it all. Markus has never been the type to behave irrationally—he always did everything for a reason, big or small. This isn't like him in the slightest—none of what he's doing is making any sense!"

"Maybe he's not the one trying to resurrect Z-ARC," said Rika. "Maybe he has no choice but to do what he's told."

"That's not the point!" Leo was becoming unsettlingly agitated. "Because the threat of Z-ARC has been contained, the purpose of the original Academia no longer exists. Everyone who was part of the school should know this—it's just a zombie, now, something that the Ædonai just _won't let die_. But just letting it die isn't that simple—because when it comes down to it, people like Grimm and Streiter and all those soldiers they created and commanded only know one thing. And you don't erase that sort of knowledge like you would a giant, dimension-destroying dragon!"

Hotene crossed her arms. "What's your point?"

"These people are in the Ædonai because they have nowhere else to go," was all that Leo said. "The Kingdom of Misgarth has a very firm grip over any Duelist within its borders whose Dueling abilities come from any source considered … _unnatural_ , which means Dr. Grimm's psychic powers are already enough to blanket-ban her from every official _Duel Monsters_ tournament under the sun—both as a Duelist and a spectator. And Academia wasn't Markus' first tour of duty," he added. "He's served his military with distinction for longer than any one of you kids has been alive. The will to serve a greater interest is too far ingrained into their mentality for people like the Ædonai to easily reintegrate into normal civilian life—and they have tasted too much power from their stations for them to just go back to the way things were. I wish I could call that a testament to my work," he finished with a harsh laugh.

Masumi set her jaw. "Even so, you know we can't let them win," she said resolutely. "No matter what they want, we'll stop them from repeating history. I told Dr. Grimm myself that I'd never let her touch us again."

Leo forced a smile. "I wouldn't expect otherwise from you," he said, and the Fusion user heard the approving tone in his words. It was the most genuine he'd sounded throughout this whole meeting.

"What's in it for you, though?" Yaiba asked. "Why are you just telling us this at all? We're not even trying to be persuasive, and yet you're spilling like you've got so many guns to your head!"

Leo was silent. Yaiba's face fell. Masumi instantly realized the look of a person who had said the wrong thing.

" … Because," said the former headmaster, "it is only a matter of time before they come for _me_."

Masumi gulped. "Oh, yes," Leo said, gazing round the room and registering the surprise on everyone's faces—even Himika, the Fusion Duelist noted with a shiver, was openmouthed in shock. "The only reason I can think of for the Ædonai to attempt to steal as many pieces of the ARC-V reactor as possible _and_ to kidnap Yūya and Yuzu—yet still do so with full knowledge that the critical components of the Arc Project and Revival Zero are beyond their reach—is that they intended to send a message. They have not forgotten me—or anything I did for them—and they intend to leave a lasting reminder of that message on anyone who got between them and me."

Himika swooped in. "So why would they come after you?"

"Because of everything I know," said Leo. "They may try to recruit me because I know things they don't, or could only dream of. They may also try to silence me for the same reason—or perhaps because they intend to disrupt my forthcoming trial. Possibly they may see me as a coward for going through any trial at all. Regardless of the truth, I believe that when that time comes … I am almost certain the Ædonai will send Gwendolyn Grimm after me."

Masumi ignored the stabbing needles inside her heart at the thought of her hated enemy sharing the same Earth as her—breathing the same air she did. "Because you two know each other so well? Isn't that what you said?"

"It was, and we do," Leo affirmed. "And I'm afraid this is more significant than you might realize. You of all people should know what she is capable of doing, Masumi. I could hear you talking outside my door: you don't believe that I am adequately protected if a Duelist as dangerous as her should come to call on this Château."

He reached inside the pocket of his shorts. "And you might just be right—if I didn't have _this_." He produced a thin band of silver metal, about eight inches around, and held it up for the LID to see.

"My own invention—one of the last before I was arrested for my war crimes," he explained. "It produces sensations in my brain that might be likened to caffeine on steroids. The sensations come in short pulses, which I can adjust to the frequency I wish. If I wear this while I'm sleeping, I can manage one burst every couple of minutes without sacrificing any rest. This disrupts my REM sleep, you see"—he traced the bags under his eyes with a finger—"and makes it harder for Grimm to use her dream-powers on me to the extent that she wants."

Masumi blinked. This sort of science was not her _forte_ at all—but it sounded as though Leo had accounted for any missing gaps she'd thought his security perimeter might have glossed over or didn't have the means to counter on its own. She was impressed with the ingenuity behind this device—and yet something felt like it wasn't adding up for her. Why would Leo feel the need to make something like this at all if—?

Then it hit her. It felt like she'd just watched someone pull the pin on a live grenade.

_"—makes it harder for Grimm to use her dream-powers on me to the extent that she wants—"_

Masumi swayed where she stood. "Leo … did you build that device _before_ … or _after_ she knew you were here?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Himika whirl in her direction. The LID turned towards her, worry written on all of their faces. She waited for the grenade to go off. Then …

" … When I augmented her body and brought her powers under control," Leo said, as slowly and delicately as if he was doing his best to keep the explosion from happening, "I believed her loyalty to Academia, and her gratefulness to me, was enough to prevent her from going … _overboard_. But she's cast her lot with a different sort now—one that's more flexible in allowing its membership to fulfill their individual desires just as much as the one they share. Consolidating power is only the first step—hoarding the pieces of the ARC-V reactor is both practical and symbolic, and the Ædonai pride themselves on holding a monopoly over every method of Fusion Summoning known to man. The more power they hoard on both fronts, the closer their plans come to fruition—ergo, the more power Wendy has at her fingertips … and the more she believes her powers can do."

Himika's words had a bite to them that chilled to the bone. "How long have you known about this?" she demanded.

"I guessed for much longer than I actually knew," replied Leo. "I'm not so vain as to think my handiwork is entirely flawless—but I had hoped that Wendy would be happy with her powers being at the level they were." He chuckled mirthlessly. "Silly me for thinking all human beings could actually learn to be content with their lot in life. Perhaps if she hadn't met you, Masumi, she might still be."

Masumi crossed her arms. "It's not my fault I ended up being more than her twisted mind could handle."

A sigh. "No … but, in a way, it is your fault that we're having this conversation. Or, at least, Wendy thinks so." Leo pocketed his anti-sleep whatever-it-was, and now engaged the Fusion Duelist with a wholly serious look. "You did more of a number on her than you realize."

"Good."

Leo ignored her. "After you blew her cover, Wendy was recalled to the Fusion Dimension," he told her. "She had been gravely injured, you see—enough that it required some rather … _unconventional_ surgery. She was lucid enough to blame it all on you before she went under the knife."

Yaiba swallowed. "What … did Masumi do?"

"Before I answer that, I want to know how much of your dream with her you still remember, Masumi." Leo stood up. "Specifically, I want to know how it _ended_. I don't care about the Duel itself—I'm more than aware enough of Wendy's skillset to know that she didn't make it easy for you to beat her."

Masumi thought. Perhaps it was because the Duel itself had been less of a dream and more of a memory that even now, its details were still crisp and clear in her head. Her brain fast-forwarded to the final turn, where Hokuto had revealed a card that disrupted Dr. Grimm's Field Spell, which had helped her control Hotene, Shen, and Fuyu and therefore allowed them to fight her psychic powers and Summon their strongest monsters to weaken her further still … she thought of Summoning her _Master Dia_ , stronger than she'd ever made it in her Dueling career … she thought of the final blow, and how it had left Wendy a broken mess when she'd seen her, walked up to her in order to make sure Dr. Grimm would never touch her again … her Duel Disk had drawn backwards …

She gasped. " … I stabbed her," she finally remembered. "In the eye—with my Duel Disk. There was this … word tattooed on her. She'd been putting it in all my dreams about her, like it was some kind of magic spell. I thought if I stabbed the word, the spell's power would be broken, and I'd be able to wake up from the dream."

Leo hummed to himself, nodding solemnly as he listened to her story. "And so you did," he told her. "But this confirms a theory I suspected ever since Wendy came back to Academia with the injuries she had. Her left eyeball was … " He stopped abruptly, chewing his tongue.

Masumi, however, had put two and two together, and her voice was a bare whisper. "Are you saying that me breaking out of that dream caused Dr. Grimm to _lose an eye?!_ "

"She's a Psychic Duelist," Leo reminded her, ignoring the stricken looks the rest of the LID were trading with each other. "Her powers allow her to control dreams. Because she was still using those powers when you did break free, attacking her in such a vulnerable place caused a backlash of sorts—they were turned against her for a split second, and … "

He chewed his tongue again. "The surgery went well enough. But we knew before the procedure that there would likely be some … _side effects_. And I cannot say with certainty if Wendy has come to consider them a hindrance or a help to her. All she told me before the doctors began their work," he said, "was that you had scarred her, Masumi—both in body _and_ in mind."

Leo pointed to Yaiba. "And that _he_ tried to stop you."

Masumi didn't even hear Yaiba's confused "Huh?" She felt a cold sweat trickling down her back as Leo's words sank in; it seemed this, then, was the reason why Leo had wished to speak to her specifically. It was one thing for people she fought to be injured when Dueling her; at least then, she could rationalize that those injuries had been caused by their own lack of preparedness. But with Dr. Grimm … everything she had done to her had happened after their Duel—when she had no more reason to fight her.

 _And yet I …_ Masumi willed herself to come back to reality. Now was not the time to be wondering about what could have been if she'd acted differently—only what could happen if the LID didn't act at all.

"So … you think that's why Dr. Grimm joined the Ædonai?" Hotene looked shaken. "You think she wants revenge on us?"

"I don't think it's that simple," said Leo. "You're right, to be sure—Wendy did seem to harbor an unhealthy fixation on all of you while she was recuperating, and Masumi most of all. But I also think she's convinced herself that if she wants to seek vengeance on you, then she needs to either get more powerful to do so—or, barring that, to find a way to better control her powers."

Yaiba's mouth fell open. "More power—?!"

"Either Markus or Kagemaru could have the technology at their disposal to bolster her abilities," Leo plowed on, "and I think they would be mad to not have enticed her with it at least once already. Manipulating dreams is only a stepping-stone to full-blown telepathy. And if Wendy should achieve _that_ —if she hasn't already—then with her experience in dreams, she may very well have harnessed the singularly unique ability to break down the boundaries that separate the dream world from the real world."

Masumi's mind was leagues away; her voice did not seem her own. "You're talking about _warping reality?_ "

Leo shook his head at once. "Only how we _perceive_ that reality," he corrected her. "There is a difference—but depending on the mind that perceives it at all, it may be enough. Our ability to separate fantasy from reality is what allows us as a species to distinguish between men and gods. But fantasies can be just as complex and elaborate—and sometimes even as mundane—as any bit of reality. Furthermore, the line that divides them is not so easily perceived by the youngest and most malleable of human beings—those who are not usually so attentive to the details and minutiae of the world they know to be real, but in which they still love to play pretend.

"By distorting those boundaries," he finished, "I would surmise that Gwendolyn Grimm joined the Ædonai not only for another shot at you—but because she also wishes to be viewed as a 'deity' of sorts, by those humans who cannot distinguish between well-crafted fantasy and dull-as-dishwater reality. I'm sure you would agree," he added, "that her prowess in _Duel Monsters_ lends some credence to her claim—and I do not doubt she intends to use that prowess to make you her first, ah … _believers_ , so to speak."

"Bull," Hokuto spat. "You're seriously saying a card game makes her a _god_?"

Leo laughed—a full-blown laugh without any trace of irony to it. "You know," he said, "in another time and place, when pharaohs and magicians bound spirits to stone tablets, and the common folk worshiped such things as gods, a claim like that wouldn't be far from the truth."

But just as quickly, he sobered up. "You would do well to know your history of this so-called card game, Hokuto, and to know your place in the world that makes it what it is today. Science may have forged new _Duel Monsters_ over the years, but its origins in ancient Egypt are still as valid now as they were three thousand years ago."

It seemed nobody had any idea how to respond to this. Silence reigned over the study for seconds that stretched into minutes. Clouds drifted over the sun, casting rays of dusty sunlight on the many books either side of them.

Finally, Fuyu's raspy voice broke the tableaux. "We'll have to fight her again … won't we?"

Leo nodded. "I can't help you," he said sorrowfully. "Not directly, at least; I can't risk her finding out that I aided you in any way. The less I actively intervene with the Ædonai's plans, the more certain they'll be that I'm a better investment if I'm kept alive—and the more useful I'll be to you until they contact me directly."

Masumi wasn't sure if staying put in this house—as impressive as it was—amounted to being useful in any way. "But what do we do, then?" she wanted to know.

Leo sat down at his desk. "You need to focus your efforts on Markus Streiter," he answered at once. "He's the key to the Ædonai gaining so much strength in such a short time. If he's dealt with first, you can interrupt that strength and take out a major player in their whole scheme. Find out why he was in Maiami City—find out where he plans to go next. And for the love of God, the sake of the four Dimensions … and for Yūya and Yuzu … stop him."

His eyes stared pleadingly into Masumi's soul. "Because you won't be able to stop Wendy any other way."

The Fusion Duelist knew then that their audience with Leo was over. He'd taken out a fresh sheaf of paper, and begun scrawling on the first sheet he could reach as he'd been doing when they'd entered the study.

Himika stepped forward. "Let's go." But Masumi was already heading for the door—she could no longer bear to look at the man who'd been tailor-made for her to hate … and yet could not help but pity.

* * *

The hallway outside felt as cooling as the breath of God. Masumi shuddered when the door banged shut behind the LID; such had been the gravity of their conversation with Leo that she had trouble standing. Visions of mutilated faces, of dreams and nightmares locked away in vain … and the two old men, Markus and the so-called Kagemaru, who wished to make those dreams a reality … everything was crashing together in her brain. It was too much to take in.

Reiji and Himika had already made a beeline for one another. "Nakajima, tell Marco and Tio to bring up the cars and await our arrival," the headmistress said. "Then have them contact the Ministry of Defense immediately. Leo must be taken to safety. As early as tonight, if at all possible."

Nakajima bowed, and exited the hallway back into the main household.

"One of the maids came to me earlier," Reiji said the moment the aide had disappeared. "Angel-IQ has been in contact with our technicians at LeoCorp, and tried calling a few minutes ago. She claims it's urgent."

Himika swore. "And of course the only line to the outside world is on the other side of the house … " she grumbled. "Right—all of you with me, then. It appears we'll be taking our leave of this place sooner than I would've liked."

"Could you give us a little time first?" Yaiba protested. "That was a lot to take in. We … might need a bathroom."

He was standing rather close to Masumi as he said this. Not that she cared, since they were dating—but then she felt the bamboo _shinai_ he always carried on his back, surreptitiously edging her on the shin. At once she had a suspicion as to who the 'we' might be—and if 'we' really did need a bathroom.

"I'd … better go with him," she hurriedly invented. "Just in case he decides to wander off."

Mother and son traded glances. Masumi wasn't sure which one looked more skeptical.

"Five minutes," Reiji said, after what had felt like five of them already. "Not one second longer."

Neither Fusion nor Synchro ace stayed to argue the point. With a single nod, Yaiba was off, with Masumi close behind. They roved along the hallway, passing door after door before finally turning a corner, out of their sight.

* * *

The moment they did, Yaiba practically shoved open the first door he came across: a guest bedroom that looked small only by the standards of this house. Masumi thought her parents had probably honeymooned in a less luxuriant bridal suite.

She had no time to take in the décor of the place; the moment the door had clicked shut, Yaiba was upon her, kissing her as fiercely as Masumi had first kissed him, atop the summit of LDS on the first night of their relationship. So surprised was the Fusion user that her knees buckled—despite her being several inches taller—and the two of them toppled onto the soft, wide bed behind them.

Yaiba didn't seem to care; he was on cloud nine, and Masumi's bones were vibrating from how rapidly her heart was thundering in her chest. It was oblivion, it was bliss, and how she wished those five minutes—four, or even three; how much time had passed?—would stretch so much longer—

By the time Yaiba surfaced for air, he was breathing deeply. He was very red in the face, and looked as though he'd only just realized what he'd done.

"I'm sorry," he said huskily. "I needed to think up a story … I don't think they bought it, but I still … I had to … "

He swallowed. Masumi smiled. "It's fine. I think I needed that, too. Just … " She giggled—such a breathless, wonderfully girlish sound to make for a person who'd been through hell in both body and mind. "A little warning, next time?"

Much to her relief, Yaiba laughed too. He flopped down on the bed beside her, still holding her hand, and the two of them—each more hopelessly in love with the other—savored the long moment of solitude they'd been hoping for.

"I'd been hoping this day wouldn't happen," murmured the Synchro Duelist, staring up at the pure white ceiling. Sunlight streamed from a nearby open window, and a thousand dust motes drifted before their eyes—the only witnesses to their wishes, both spoken and fulfilled. "That one day, we'd be LID once more—that eventually, we'd have to worry just _one more time_ about the fate of the world depending on the cards we drew. I couldn't … "

Masumi heard him swallow a second time. "I just wanted one last taste of peace … before we had to start fighting this stupid war again … "

The candidness of his confession hit her then, as she idly played with a loose lock of Yaiba's spiky hair. On this day one year ago, their futures had been free of all stress that didn't involve practicing for tournaments, studying for exams—or even learning how to work the family business. Now here they were, the saviors of an entire city, their destinies forever intertwined in a spiral that led towards a destination Masumi wanted nothing more than to see with her own eyes—and yet, one whose journey she wasn't ready to end.

They had so much more to fight for now—and so much more to lose if even one of them lost.

"Yaiba?" She looked round at him. "Do you think I—"

But he'd shushed her with a finger to her lips. "If you're trying to ask me, of all people, if what you think you did was _smart_ … " he said—but he didn't finish his sentence. He sighed. "Look—Dr. Grimm was a monster, Masumi. She had to be stopped before those three kids were too far gone for us to save them."

"But just say—"

"We didn't know what it would do to her," Yaiba reasoned. "We had no way of knowing that wouldn't be the end of it—that it was only the beginning." He nuzzled into Masumi's neck. "As beginnings go, though—you have to admit it wasn't _bad_. You got to save some kids who didn't know your name—then they got to save you. Now look at us. We've saved so many people now—all because you were strong enough to fight her … and fight _back_.

"Was it smart? Honestly? No. Nine times out of ten, stabbing someone in the eye is beyond stupid," he said with a laugh, while Masumi huffed. "But this was number ten, Masumi. Maybe in hindsight, it still wasn't smart even then—but it was still _right_. If it was me, I'd think a handful of new friends and a squeeze of my own was worth knowing a pissed-off, one-eyed Psychic Duelist was hunting me down. It'd mean I wouldn't have to face her alone anymore."

Maybe the bedspread was just that soft, but Masumi felt as though she was floating. Yaiba had a strange way of putting her at ease; he didn't mince words when trying to reassure her. It wasn't always gentle—he was too brash, too in-your-face to whisper sweet nothings into her ears. But diamonds weren't known for being any more soft or gentle than swords were—they were quite the opposite. Hold them both up to the light, though—turn them until they shone and sparkled—and it made for a truly mesmerizing display that never failed to captivate her senses.

Masumi felt her hand grip his a little tighter. "You know," she whispered in Yaiba's ear, "that didn't have to be the _last_ taste."

"Huh?"

And then she'd rolled on top of him, grinning playfully, and pecked him once—then a second, third and fourth time, just for good measure. Soft laughter bloomed between their lips, and each time, the kisses became longer, deeper, more intimate—

Masumi had just reached number eight, and was intent on making it last a full eight seconds, when she saw the door swing open at the edge of her vision. With all the gymnastic grace Hotene had drilled into her in the months they'd spent practicing at Trampo-Land, she'd whirled into a sitting position beside Yaiba, perching innocently on the edge of the bed before whoever was on the other side could guess what either of them had been up to.

Not that it would have mattered much; that 'whoever' turned out to be Reiji and the LID. A suddenly embarrassed Masumi began to doubt that he'd bought Yaiba's bathroom break story; Reiji's face was as inscrutable as the day she'd first met him. This was more than could be said for the kids behind him, however: Hotene and Rika were trading giddy grins, and both Hokuto and Fuyu were blushing at realizing that they'd just interrupted a rather private moment.

In front of them all, however, was Himika. She looked grim.

"We have to leave," she told them tersely. "Right now."

* * *

Quicker than Masumi could find the words to describe, they were out of the Château and onto the front drive.

After Tsukikage and Hikage had returned their Duel Disks to their rightful owners, Himika had remained inside to stay with Reira, mentioning offhandedly that she would be taking her daughter home later. Everyone had silently agreed that whatever they had witnessed between Masumi and Yaiba was to stay between them, as all such private matters should be.

Nakajima was at the Range Rover, waiting dutifully for Reiji—who was currently talking faster than Masumi had ever heard him speak. "LeoCorp has been studying the events of the past twenty-four hours," he was saying, "and they claim to have made a breakthrough. They're sending Angel-IQ with the data they obtained—she should be along any second now."

And sure enough, the familiar hologram of the supercomputer's blonde-haired avatar had shimmered into existence just then, in between the two Maybach limousines that had been parked in the front drive. The glare of the sun against her hard-light skin lent an almost ephemeral, supernatural quality about her.

Reiji cut her off before she could greet him formally. "Let's hear it, Q. We may not have much time."

At once, the holo-girl's thin fingers began to weave deftly through the air. Thin lines spilled out along her fingertips at right angles, forming a grid that, within seconds, became a top-down view of what looked like city streets.

"This is a map of Maiami City." Angel-IQ, as human as she could behave, was still artificial enough to point out the obvious. But with a wave of her hand, she was instantly in her element; blotches of violet appeared on the map—first sporadic, then progressively more widespread, and finally almost nonexistent. "These three overlays correspond to ten minutes before, during, and after the Ædonai's assault on the city."

Yaiba pointed at the stains warily. "What's that purple stuff? Is that Fusion energy from the monsters they used?"

"Not precisely, Yaiba- _san_ ," Angel-IQ corrected. "It is Fusion radiation—given off by the energy from multiple high-level Fusion Monsters, each characteristic to their native Dimension."

 _Radiation_. Something about the word stirred in Masumi's memory. "Wait a minute," she murmured. "There was Fusion radiation before _and_ after the attack! That's got to be Markus, right? We can use this to track him!"

"There is more," said Angel-IQ. "Only one overlay corresponds to any periods of time where Markus Streiter was assumed to be Dueling. The first took place shortly before Sakaki Yūya Dueled against Hīragi Yuzu. The second, obviously, belongs to the Ædonai forces that attacked the city—and the third involves the Duel that incapacitated Sakaki Yūshō, in which he battled Markus himself."

Fuyu frowned. "Wait a minute. One of them happened _before_ Yūya's Duel took place?"

"Correct. Reiji and the LeoCorp staff have shared their findings with each other, and their current theory is that Markus has developed mind-control technology that uses Fusion energy extracted from the Summoning of high-level monsters. It would explain the circumstances of when and why Yūya and Yuzu were compromised."

"They used Fusion Monsters," nodded Masumi. "That checks out with what we heard from Leo, too. Markus is going after former members of Academia—or anyone who uses Fusion Summoning just as extensively as they are. Anyone he can convert to a soldier of the Ædonai," she said, biting off a curse.

"Can you find Markus now, Q?" Yaiba asked.

"Scanning." The hologram's blue eyes flashed even bluer for a moment. "Markus' radiation exhibits a specific variance that LeoCorp has theorized will allow us to track him," she said as this was happening. "However, given the current constraints, I would need a third sample to match the unknown signature used during Yūshō's Duel and prior to Yūya's against Yuzu—and unfortunately, I cannot locate it at this time. Either he is currently not using it, or he is not within city limits. It is equally likely he is not in this Dimension at the present time."

Masumi sighed, deflated. They'd been so close. At least they could use this to track him the moment he showed up in Maiami City once more—this, if nothing else, was the first good news they'd had all day. It meant they had their foot in the door.

Reiji, however, was stroking his chin, deep in thought. "Something isn't adding up here," he muttered. "Markus isn't stupid. He has to assume we're on his tail by now. If his mind-control device gives off Fusion radiation, then he'll stick out like a sore thumb the moment he uses it. Unless … "

He walked off, turning round in a full circle, still talking to himself. "Unless he's trying to blend in again," he said, "to conceal his Fusion radiation with that of other Fusion Duelists inside the Pendulum Dimension, and dampen any footprints he's leaving behind. And if that's true … it means there's only one place he could be going."

"LDS!" Masumi said quickly. "We've got the biggest number of Fusion Duelists outside of the Ædonai itself."

But Reiji immediately shook his head. "The Ministry of Justice has already put out a warrant for Markus' arrest—the Maiami City police will ID him the moment he shows his face. He won't be going to LDS anytime soon.

"Besides," he muttered, looking at Masumi—and then, for some reason, past her, "what worries me more at present is the _second_ -biggest concentration of Fusion Duelists in the Pendulum Dimension."

The Fusion Duelist turned to see what he was looking at—and her gaze traveled to Yaiba. The Synchro Duelist had gone bone-white; he looked as though he'd just missed a step going downstairs.

"Oh, no," he murmured. His eyes were glassy, unfocused. Masumi saw him seize his chest unconsciously, as though Kachidoki Isao had just punched him again, as he had time and again during their last Duel—

The penny dropped, clanging like a gong toppling onto concrete. She looked at her boyfriend, and saw in his face the shock that had rooted her own body to the ground. As their shared suspicions of Streiter's next destination turned into mutual certainty, Masumi believed then that she was feeling every blow Yaiba had suffered that day—and was likely to suffer in real life very soon.


End file.
